Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Divine Inheritance

Our creative energy is our divine inheritance.
When we insist on playing God by trying to be all-powerful and all-understanding and all-giving and all things to all people, God can work no miracles in our own lives, because we never allow the time or space to let a divine hand enter our affairs. While it is true the divine source is an inexhaustible flow, as humans we are finite. We do tire, and we tire most easily from tiresome people. Julia Cameron Walking in This World Page 109 and 114
 We must be wise in investing God’s inheritance. We must be careful not to squander God’s inheritance on those who spend our time and energy foolishly.
Does this sound selfish to you? If so, then read the parable of Jesus about the ten bridesmaids. Matt. 25: 1-13.
Jesus tells us five of the bridesmaids were wise and five were foolish. The wise bridesmaids took extra oil for their lamps whereas the other five took only the oil that was in their lamps. When the call went out that the bridegroom was coming, the foolish ones realized that they did not have enough oil to take them through the whole night and so they asked those who had brought extra oil to share it with them.
If they had done as requested all ten of the bridesmaids would have run out of oil during the night so the wise ones refused to share and told the others to go to a shop and buy some for themselves. They did so but when they returned they were locked out of the ceremonies.
The wise bridesmaids held on to their divine inheritance by not giving it away to those who hadn’t taken care of the gift God had given them. They had all been invited to the marriage feast but the foolish ones were unprepared and then expected the wise ones to pick up the slack. If they had done what probably seemed the generous thing to do then they all would have squandered God’s gift and God would not have been honoured as was the divine due.
We must learn to say, “No” to many requests so that we have the time and space to say, “Yes” to God’s requests.
© Judith Lawrence

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Creativity and Christ’s Word

We speak of the Great Creator, we speak of Christ but seldom make the connection that the spiritual laws he taught are actually the spiritual laws related to creativity. “Knock and it shall be opened.” “Ask and you shall receive”—these are not mere spiritual bromide, they are spiritual laws as they relate to manifestation…Creative dreams come to us as visions that we are charged with fulfilling. When we allow the Great Creator to do this to us, through us, then we are aligning ourselves with the spiritual power necessary to negate the “odds”. Julia Cameron Walking in This World Page 92/93
In the Gospels we can read many of Christ’s instructions to us. Most Christians are familiar with the words, [E]veryone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7: 8 Christ tells us to keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking. It is no good asking, seeking, or knocking only once because we have to show perseverance. As in the old adage, If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.
Perhaps we get an idea or a dream for a writing project. Then the idea has to be developed. In order to do this we have to think and expand the original idea. It is good to seek the Holy Spirit’s help and guidance to bring our project to a good fulfillment. We align ourselves with spiritual power when we follow Christ’s Words and spiritual laws such as the ones quoted above.
© Judith Lawrence

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Making Something of Ourselves

Candles
Our inner world is a complex, exquisite, and powerful play of colors, lights, and shadows, a cathedral of consciousness as glorious as the natural world itself. This inner wealth is what the artist expresses.
The Great Creator lives within each of us. All of us contain a divine expressive spark, a creative candle intended to light our path and that of our fellows. We are shiny, not tarnished; large, not small; beautiful, not damaged—although we may be ignorant of our grace, power, and dignity.
The human being, by definition, is a creative being. We are intended to make things and, in the old phrase, to “make something of ourselves”. Julia Cameron, Walking in this World Page 57
When I close my eyes and allow myself to go into a contemplative mode, I often see coloured lights, flashes of purples, blues, greens, and yellows. I am amazed at the beauty of this internal wealth.
Coloured crayons
A few years ago, I had a bleed in one eye and I lost the sight in that eye for several months. I could see nothing outwardly but inwardly there was a whole world of movement and life going on. I could see little people jumping about on furniture, running and apparently laughing, though I couldn’t hear any sound; they seemed to be having a great time.
Though I was concerned that I would never regain my sight in that eye yet I couldn’t help but enjoy the constant entertainment this inner pageant gave me. This must have been the “divine expressive spark, the creative candle intended to light [my] path” that Julia Cameron speaks of.
It seems as if we are never alone, the Great Creator lives in us giving us grace, power, and dignity even in our most difficult times. God continues to create and grow within us and we must continue to create and make something of ourselves no matter what our circumstances.
© Judith Lawrence

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Moving Closer to God’s Intention

It is spiritual law that we are in the process of becoming what we already are—perfect creations of a perfect creator. This means that at our most awkward and ill at ease, we are still in divine order and moving ever closer to God’s intention. Faith in this process, a belief that we can change and still experience the unchanging support of the universe, is critical to any sense of comfort as we grow. Julia Cameron Walking in This World Page 51
When we see the art we do now, especially at the beginning of our lives of creativity, it is hard for us to imagine what we will be able to produce and what we, as spiritual persons, will be at the end of our lives here on earth; but what God intends that we should be are “perfect creations of a perfect creator”.
Learning to Walk
A baby at the beginning of her life is not expected to walk or provide her own nourishment and yet, as babies in our new-found creativity, whether writing or painting, whether crocheting or knitting, whatever our creative field may be, we often expect ourselves to be perfect immediately and are impatient with our beginner and imperfect status.
We are not perfect creations yet but we are in the process of becoming perfect creations. If we are imperfect in the beginnings of our creativity it is to be expected and is a necessary step on the way to becoming better. It is through recognizing imperfections and learning skills that will help us improve that we go through the process of becoming the person God intends us to be.
Celtic Knotwork by Judith Lawrence
In the non-linear and timeless world of eternity we already are perfect creations in God’s sight; but living in a world of time and step-by-step growth we are in the process of becoming those perfect creations of the perfect Creator.
© Judith Lawrence