Adorning the Dark: Maybe I'm more creative than I thought

But I don’t have a creative bone in my body. I can’t paint, can’t sing, dance, or play an instrument. I’m not a good writer or speaker. How can God use me?

Like most of the world, I have doubts about where I fit into the grand scheme of things. I worry that my efforts won’t be good enough, but try anyway only to prove myself right. I’m convinced that I don’t have what it takes, but am also desperate to prove to myself and others that if only I put in enough effort, something good will result. Sadly, I always seem to give up long before I’ve been able to force myself to put in enough effort.

And then I read Andrew Peterson’s book Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling and the Mystery of Making (B&H Publishing, 2019).  There was something about this book that inspired peace; I’m not sure exactly what it was, but I kept reading, waiting for the spell to be broken—but that just didn’t happen. One of the great mysteries, I suppose, of how God’s creation works. We’re called to be in community or relationship—with God and with others. God has a plan for each of us, and He calls us into that plan and, since we are created in the image of God, get to exercise a certain creative power. Your creative power won’t be the same as anyone else’s, and that’s okay. Take what you have, make the best of it, and become the you that God is calling you to be.

                                                           

That doesn’t mean that we can’t study someone else’s mysterious makings, quite the contrary, we should study what others have done. Peterson gives several helpful hints for how to maximize our creative powers. Study the things we like and the things we don’t like. We should create for ourselves, for others and for God. We should give up and never give up, be content with what we have done, but not give up on making it even better. Do it alone, but never forget to invite others into your creativity.  All these contrary opinions may not seem to make sense, but if you read the book, and ponder the wisdom found in the pages, things start to become much clearer.

I was so intrigued and fascinated by the authors writing style that it took me a while to realize that what he was saying was just as powerful as how he said it. I actually, after reading several chapters, went back to the beginning of the book to see what I had missed: it was a lot. And I have the feeling that if in a few weeks I were to pick up this book and read it again, that I what find a lot more wisdom.

I received a copy of this book as a member of the Publisher’s bloggers’ program. I was not required to write a positive review.

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