Why your creativity is important to the Church

By Sheila-Maria Tagallie and Angelo Kurbanali, Catholic creatives

Most of us would generally agree that God created the universe and everything in it. More than that, since the universe is constantly growing, it must mean that God is constantly creating.

God is creative, and in the Church that Jesus created on Earth, the creativity of the Church’s people is fundamental to the Church’s wholeness.

The idea that not everyone is creative is a misguided one. The idea that creativity is something we are born either with or without is even more misguided.

Sometimes, we pack away our creativity after traumatic experiences during childhood, afraid of the vulnerability that creativity necessarily entails. Yet most of us can remember being creative at some point. Often, our problem is not that we lack creativity, but that we forgot how to access our God-given creativity.

Nevertheless, there is good news. Our Church believes that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God (Imago dei), and since God is creative, then we are all creative beings, too.

If anything, it might be helpful to think about creativity like a river or sea—God’s creativity (the water) is the source of our creativity, and whenever we draw water from the source, it is still the same creativity of God, just in a much smaller amount. God’s creativity becomes ours when God’s creativity is coloured by our unique, individual experiences.

Creative seed

So, how can we start to draw on God’s creativity in our own lives? A solid start is through dedicated time for practising your creativity—even, or especially, if it seems pointless.

In our fast-paced, machine-run world, it is very easy to have little to no time for our creative selves. Work must get done, and creative hobbies could seem like they are reserved for a blessed few who have time and talent.

Yet one of the fastest paths to spiritual death is ignoring the creative seed that God planted inside of us. In a society where the Arts, and even religion, are considered secondary, practising your creativity is one of the ultimate forms of resistance—it allows God’s Holy Spirit to enter into the world through you.

There are many different ways each of us can engage our own unique creative sides. We often come up with creative solutions to unexpected problems in our daily lives. We might not consciously think about how creative these solutions are, but they still come from God’s creativity in us.

Trinbagonian people are a creative people, and whenever we express ourselves through the visual arts, the performing arts, writing, or whatever we do in our day to day lives, we bring forth the Holy Spirit in palpable ways.

God’s creativity looks different in all of us. The following poem on creativity, penned by Sheila-Maria Tagallie, is one example of how the Holy Spirit’s wisdom presents itself in this Catholic creative:

The Sacredness of Our Creativity

(A Contemplative Reflection by Sheila-Maria Tagallie)

There is a sacredness that rests within our creativity—

not because it is set apart, but because it is capable of revealing what is most deeply true and real.

When our creativity arises from a place of attentiveness and remembering,

from a life turned toward what is good, true, and beautiful,

it begins to carry more than form or expression.

It carries presence.

A presence that does not impose.

A presence that invites.

There is no need for explanation.

There is only revelation.

In this way, our creativity becomes a quiet dignity;

because it participates in the dignity of what it reveals—

Goodness, recognised in the tenderness of what is offered.

Truth, encountered in what is honest and unhidden.

Beauty, unveiled in what draws us toward wonder,

toward stillness,

toward the knowing that we belong within all of creation.

And perhaps this is where our creativity becomes most deeply sacred—

when it does not seek to impress,

but to remain faithful to what has been seen,

remembered,

and encountered.

In such moments, our creativity—

our art,

our poetry,

our music,

our dance,

our writing,

our work,

reveals relationship—

with the artist—the one who creates,

with the world—as it is perceived,

and with God—who is present within all that is created,

drawing all things toward goodness, truth, and beauty.

God’s creativity looks different in all of us. How can you share your creativity with the Church?

Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash