In Teresa’s last post she posed a wonderful question, though she rightly states that it wasn’t hers to ask, but one put forth by some of her readers: “How have you changed with the writing of this book?”
When I read that I was a bit taken aback and thought about it for a moment as if it was being asked of me. How have I been changed? And if I would be allowed to expand the scope of the context to include my CDs and paintings, well then I really have a lot to ponder.
I think one of the main issues derived from the process of distilling all the art that I’ve been a part of creating, whether in part or in whole, would be a single word: motive. And my own analysis of the word rather shocks me.
A Christian’s first response, whether realized in full or in part, is always, “To glorify God.” And I don’t state that for any other reason than that’s what scripture requires of us (1 Corinthians 10:31). I have struggled with my motives all of my Christian walk. And I probably always will because I walk around in a continually deteriorating sack of skin that is constantly at enmity with God (Romans 8:7). This topic (and its history throughout my life) is a post within itself.
But it’s my second thought that I want to briefly discuss today.
Found deep within the womb of my spirit, divided between the essence of my created soul and the God-breathed elements of my eternal self, lies a divine quality imbued innately from my Creator: to myself create.
In every artist there comes a pregnant pause, a profound yet fleeting moment that captures our imagination and deposits seeds. Many are lost or forgotten, but there is always at least one that takes root, and given the proper encouragement, will manifest and bare the intended fruit.
There is not a moment in my life where I was not constantly investing, creating, imagining, and wondering. Now an adult, my parents confess to me their own wonder at how prolific I was in “doing things.” Whether a new Lego creation, a cardboard-box-and-duct-tape space craft, a non-code tree fort, or a stapled together comic book series to end all others, I was always making something.
Some may say I was over active. Some may have tried to slap a medical label on me (an error we make too often as a society). Others may have even called me a “dreamer.” They never knew how right they were.
When you become intimately connected to the divine nature of creativity, you can’t help but create something; its very DNA is designed to prolifically propagating life, a characteristic shared only by God and mankind.
The fact is that I am changed each and every time I write a book, write a song, or paint a picture. Something in me grows a little closer to Christ, and becomes a little more like my Father. I feel His glory when I breathe life into something–I feel I’m being just like my Daddy.
In the creation of art, we have a divine opportunity to become more like our Maker. I believe fashioning something from nothing is one of the most innate and intrinsic privileges we have as human beings. I create as He creates.
Such a privilege is it, in fact, and once again pointing to God’s limitless mercy, that He even allows the unbeliever to participate in it.
Thanks for spending some time with me today.
CH
http://www.christopherhopper.com
Tsaba House Authors 
Book Signing in South Texas
I will be signing copies of my long historical novels, Sanctuary and The Winter Pearl, as part of a Centennial Celebration in Riviera, Texas 78379 on November 11, 2007 from eleven in the morning until six in the evening. Along with several other authors, I will be located on a porch behind the old bank building sharing personal stories about ranching in the area while signing books.
See you there.
Molly Noble Bull
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