Before time itself was measured, the Voice was speaking. The Voice was and is God. This celestial Voice remained ever present with the Creator, His speech shaped the entire cosmos. Immersed in the practice of creating, all things that exist were birthed in Him. His breath filled all things with a living, breathing light — light that thrives in the depths of darkness, blazing through murky bottoms. It cannot, and will not, be quenched.
– John 1:1-5, the Voice translation
This powerful opening of the book of John stopped me in my tracks yesterday. Once upon a time, you see, I used to purposely set aside time to be creative. I painted (badly), I drew (better), I wrote, I decorated. Way back I even wrote a newsletter called HomeLight (a newsletter — for those of you who may not know — was like a hardcopy of a blog. Only slower. And much harder to produce.) in which I encouraged women (and the two men, both relatives, who would read it!) how to be creative. I thrived on new ideas. Then I grew up. Last year, when pressures seemed to be more real and urgent.
What so impacted me in these verses, so startled me that my life may need to take a right hand turn in direction, was the phrase “Immersed in the practice of creating, all things that exist were birthed in him.” The practice of creating. If it’s going to exist, it needs to be birthed. Creativity isn’t going to burst forth fully blown. It must be practiced. With intention.
Be like me, God says, immersed in the practice of creating.
I am at the verge of a new stage of life, and God calls me to create it. If it will exist, it needs to be spoken into existence. By me. These verses mean that there is a call on our lives to not accept the daily routine, to stand up and begin the work of creating. Create space, create time, create beauty and art (even if that means hanging other people’s art!). Begin again the work. These verses give me permission, imperative, to arrange and rearrange.
Be like me, God says, immersed in the practice of creating.
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Funny you should post this. Lately I have this insatiable urge to return to some creativity of years gone by. Where did it go? How did I let it slip away? Sadly I will say I’ve spent far too much time over the past few years dwelling on what is “not” (kids for starters). But recently I’ve had this burning desire and am determined that it’s a good and God-given desire I need to heed. I love those verses in that version – never read it before. Great post!!
The Voice translation has totally sparked up my Bible reading for this year. I would think you would like it a lot. It has boxed sidebars that give any information needed to understand the passage, and it is written in the form of a screenplay to eliminate the “Jesus said’s” and “The Pharisees said…” In addition, certain words are added to the text itself to bring clarity or depth to the text or the original meaning, but these words are always italicized so you know which are textual and which are not. I believe that the “immersed in the practice of creating” is one of those italics. I’ve been reading straight through since I found the Voice, and there are times (too few) when I reach for it before one of my books. It’s not a bring-to-church kind of Bible…it’s a sit with coffee and read it one.
And let me know how you decide to introduce that element of creativity. I’m going to try to be intentional and share my efforts. I’d love some company.