Mosaic art and God February 9, 2010

Mosaic art. You know what I’m talking about, even if you haven’t known until now what it’s called. (Art lessons here are free…)

One type of mosaic art is a picture that is made of pictures. From afar, you see one big image. When you get closer, you see that the image is, indeed, comprised of many, many small images. A few years ago, this picture-in-picture mosaic art started showing up everywhere.

It’s not surprising that we gravitate to this concept. We are unabashedly consumers at heart. A bit of this, a little of that…we are each building a picture, aren’t we? We are building a life. Something deep within resonates to the concept of a big picture that is comprised of many smaller ones.

But where is God in the mosaic art of life? Does He get a piece? A few pieces?

Really, the concept of God as a sliver of a mosaic doesn’t work at all – at least for me. No worries, I’m not going to tell you that God made the mosaic, or God is bigger than the mosaic, or even that God is the reason for the mosaic. (All of those things might be true, but I’m not sorting them out today.)

What I am thinking about is how God fits into the way many if not most of us, as consumers, approach spiritual life.

If we are honest, it is tempting to take small pieces of God (the pieces we like best, or those that work with our present reality) and put them into our mosaic. But when we take only pieces of our Great God, we are reducing one who is meant to be far more.

One of the hardest things about living in 2010 and having a vibrant relationship with the Lord is coming out of the tempting pattern of consumption, and allowing ourselves to truly be consumed. When we pursue relationship with God, we are not only taking, but we are, in a sense, being taken. Captivated, really.

So, I’m asking…can we slow down long enough to allow God to do this work in us? It is where we find the strength to build a meaningful mosaic, after all.

It is where we find the very breath to live.

Curator of ideas in a mindful museum February 5, 2010

I’ve been missing for a while. If you’re a reader, I’m sorry. I’ve been up to no good, playing Curator in the museum of my mind.

It’s the wrong approach. Now I’m sure of it.

Several months ago I ceremoniously stripped my idea tree in an attempt to “organize” my creative thoughts. Scads of colored paper with single words or phrases strewn around my knees, I scratched my head. Are these ideas even good? With that, I’d thrown open the door to the scrutiny of each thought.

Instead of building ideas up, I began tearing them apart. Don’t get me wrong; I’m a believer in making ideas fight for their lives…in due time. But to take an early concept and put it aside or even worse, pitch it, is simply wrong.

Think about it. I am an idea generator. This is a talent that God gave to me. Even on my worst days, I usually have one or two totally new concepts. They aren’t mine, really. They are gifts. Here is the big question: How does one appropriately steward the gift of thought?

The more I consider thought stewardship, the more I am sure that sifting these conceptions with such rigor when they are in infancy is no different from burying the creative gift I’ve been given.

Resolved: No more playing Curator of concepts, thoughts, and ideas.

It is a lousy job, really, and the yield is abysmal. Going forward, I will consider God the Curator, and simply develop that which comes. The best ideas will eventually take a life of their own, and those which weren’t truly inspired will surely fall of the page.

How about you? How are you stewarding the gifts you’ve been given?