What do I know?
What do I know?
Very little it seems,
but very much sometimes
about a topic that beams
directly into the depths
of the inner being of me.
I find myself enlightened
always seeking, more to know.
Never satisfied, never done -
the end of learning is never closed -
it goes beyond the sun.
A Morning Hour
The calm and quiet of a morning hour
Lord, You draw me close and whisper to pause.
My state of mind is blurry, a dashing bower
just sitting beyond my reach.
May I take the path that leads to quiet
A circle of sorts that pulls me closer,
Inward, seeking centre, peace, and silence.
Ignoring those distractions from distractions.
I have this theory that I am at my best when I am creating. This is when I am most focused, not on myself, and engaged with the act of creating. Indeed, because I am not focused on myself but on whatever I am creating, my deepest senses are open to being filled with the goodness of the Holy Spirit. I am henceforth not thinking of my own desires, as I might normally think about in any moment (what should I make for dinner?), but I am seeing through my characters' eyes if I am working on a story, or through a scene of beauty and truth if I am writing poetry.
These are my best moments because I am outside of the equation. The equation is all creative power, not indwelling momentary glibs of something else.
Idea, Energy, Power
Father, Son, Holy Spirit
Idea - the image or idea that emerges or suddenly sparks into your mind
Energy - the book written, the art made, the word incarnate, the image of your idea
Power - the book read, the art looked at, the effect upon the viewers' mind, and their reflections
If I follow along the Trinitarian thought process from Dorothy L. Sayers, in her fantastic book, The Mind of the Maker, I shall see that none can exist without the other. All are one and one are three.
The beauty of something complete is that it is made of many parts, and they all as a whole act together. And He is who holds all things together. Once an idea is made into a physical image of that idea, it must be shared in order to have any power.
Getting that idea into that thing made of course is a huge challenge, riddled with distractions. The solution to all the distractions from distractions is to be creative. To get down to it. To take oneself away from the things that distract (phones, computers, television) and drain one from the creative spark. Where did it go? Back to the storage place of your brain, easily shoved deeper back by the repetitive nature of how easy it can be to engage only with the mindless sort of things all so readily accessible.
But being creative, now that requires much of you. It requires you to give much of yourself. Give up yourself to be a creator. Aren't you giving mountains of time to your creation?
It is an amazing thing to think that we are closest to God's image (we are made in the image of God after all) when we create.
Dorothy L Sayers wrote about as we read the very beginning of Genesis, we are not told anything about the nature of God except -
...the single assertion "God created." The characteristic common to God and man is apparently that: the desire and the ability to make things.
Here in the act of making, we work toward a goodness so molding into shape in the mind, as the toil and churning brings about the physical form.
And yet, when the work is not like work, and the toil not so tiresome, it is strangely like a pleasure we only know through the very work of creating. We love what we do, and it does not feel like work of drudgery.
Dorothy L. Sayers again -
But when the job is a labor of love, the sacrifices will present themselves to the worker - strange as it may seem - in the guise of enjoyment.
To which she then quotes Edmund Spenser in his Faery Queene (basically - enjoy your work):
For some so goodly gratious are by kind,
That every action doth them much commend,
And in the eyes of men great liking find,
Which others that have greater skill in mind,
Though they enforce themselves, cannot attaine,
For everything to which one is enclined
Doth best become and greatest grace doth gaine:
Yet praise likewise deserve good thewes enforst with paine.
No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face.
- John Donne
Perhaps I am too optimistic in letting the sweaters stare at my from my closet. It is October, though. Do be generous - it should be time. Perhaps I am looking forward too much to the change of the season. Perhaps I do not belong in Florida from a weather perspective.
Perhaps...
I am a dreamer, dreaming of a season I do not get to fully experience. We always want what we cannot quite have, right? In the middle of a harsh, bleak winter, don't residents of the north just seek some sunshine and a place to let the sand squish beneath their toes on a beach?
John Donne speaks to me. His poetic verse brings me to nod in agreement. There is grace in the Autumn. Perhaps we need the seasons to change so that we develop, change, and appreciate the goodness and the challenges that each season brings. There is such truth in this.
The daydream of Autumn.
It's not just a scene or a temperature.
It's a feeling. A cosiness.
Hygge.
The candles. The hot tea steaming in your mug. The blanket covering your legs. The wind rustling outside. The feeling of safety from the wet rain outside.
Comfort food savory and warm. The scents of allspice, cinnamon, cardamom, and clove.
Leaves turn golden, rust, and cinnamon coloured. Some of these things I have to just imagine. Leaves can still crunch beneath my boots.
A sweater and scarf. Boots.
All the cosy things.
Warming up in a ray of sun.
Wanting to be outside all day.
These Autumn mornings so chilly.
Pumpkins and squash become the main dish.
I dream of these days, now that October has come. I will have to remain patient as the season is slow to transition, but I can always appreciate it all the same, in words and imagination. I can draw out the Autumn cosiness in any moment.
I am thankful for seasons - they reveal beauty and inspire reflection and appreciation.
