Inspire……

I love Exodus 31 -it’s obscure,has characters with the wonderful names of Bezalel and Oholiab and is a glorious justification of creativity.

If we were to need one.

Which I think we do.

The story goes that when I was about 3, a woman on our doorstep ( a traveller maybe?) told my mum I was going to be a ballet dancer and so I was enrolled for ballet lessons – which everyone found hilarious, because I was stocky and sturdy and not in the least bit graceful. It didn’t last long. Then I took up the piano and violin and later the cello, but as a hobby, you understand, not a career – because you have to be really excellent to succeed in that world, and I was deemed to be………well,you get the picture. Anyway that world was full of bohemian types who never made a decent living and got up to all sorts……

I did really want to be a writer. But what kind of future is there in that? So I decided to study English (that was the closest I could get) and ended up studying French and then became a teacher……and eventually became a writer 25 years later!

In the world in which I grew up,creativity was OK as a hobby and looked OK on a CV but was no match for academic achievement. I’ve grown up with all the negative voices – I know them well. Creativity is self-indulgent,selfish and impractical. It will never make you enough money. It unleashes addictions and crazy behaviour and depression. It’s obsessive and destroys relationships.And who do you think you are anyway? What makes you think your ideas are worth sharing or your stories worth hearing or your voice worth listening to?

But the good news is that creativity does matter. It matters to God, the Creator God,who created us in his image to create.  I have seen people around me relax into their creativity and blossom and flourish – and become happier because they are allowing themselves to be the person God created them to be – through music, poetry, singing, photography, dance, writing and computer programming……….

So back to Exodus 31. God had clear designs for his tabernacle and its contents but how were these designs going to become a reality? Because there were craftsman already working away,honing their skills and channelling their creativity, ready for a moment like this. As Pablo Picasso said –

Don’t wait for inspiration before you start. Start and then the inspiration, when it comes, will find you working.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur,of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.”  Exodus 31:1-5

This passage is used in our Church Alpha course – the session on the Holy Spirit – to explain how God sent His Spirit onto individuals at specific times for specific purposes in the Old Testament and how this changed after Jesus came and the Spirit was available to all all of the time. I can see that and celebrate it.

However, those of us who have stared at a blank page for hours know that inspiration does not come all of the time. It does come at specific times for specific purposes. And am I equating inspiration with the Spirit of God? Well, yes I am. The words come from the same root, you see….Remember the Spirit of God hovering over the waters in Genesis and how God breathed his spirit into the first man and how the word for both was ‘ruach’ – breath? And the definition of ‘inspire’ is –

1. fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

   2. breathe in (air); inhale.

   Breath and Spirit and inspiration and creativity are all inextricably linked…..how exciting is that?

   And so we would do well to nurture our creative side (and yes, everyone does have one). Creativity matters. It is part of living life to the full.

   When and how will inspiration catch you unawares? What will inspiration catch you doing?

   PS: in the second half of the chapter, God reiterates the importance of the Sabbath. A day of rest is vital. It’s easy to get caught up in our creative projects so that they become all-consuming, but taking time out to restore ourselves and our relationships is so important in protecting our mental,emotional, spiritual and physical health.