Then God said “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness” (Gen 1:26).

Growing up, I recall lightly using this verse on at least a weekly basis. Whenever someone picked on an insecurity of mine, I’d wittingly use this verse as a rebuttal. If my Sunday school teacher asked me why I had to love everyone, I’d recite this verse back to them, always taking it for its literal meaning and never delving into the depth required to truly understand such a statement. A naïve teenager, I did not understand the gravity and responsibility that comes with being in the image of a God who is, as we say in the Gregorian liturgy the unutterable, the invisible, the infinite without beginning, the eternal, the timeless, the limitless, the immeasurable, the unchangeable!

So what does it mean to be in His image? More importantly, when others see me do they see the beauty of the Lord in me? (And I’m not talking about the physical, outwards appearance that we tend to always draw towards, but the beauty that the sinner woman saw causing her to fall at his feet, the beauty that caused even the blind beggar to cry all the more for help…a beauty beyond the eyes!). I strongly believe that it is when we truly grasp this reality that, as the contemporary song says: “God dwells in me, that’s my selfie, that’s my true self”, then and there we will fall to our knees in reverence of our amazing God. As David the Prophet eloquently puts it:

“I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).

There are so many privileges and responsibilities that are part of being in the image and likeness of God. A major characteristic boasted about in the Christian life is the notion of free will. That being saved through the life-giving blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, I was released from the bonds and chains of sins; being able now to act through voluntary choice.

Firstly, it must be understood that it is because man was created in the image of God, who is entirely free, that we are also free through Him. We must never lose sight of this royal liberty, a right bestowed upon us as individuals in God’s image. Unfortunately, more often than not, amongst the storm of this world we forget this fundamental truth: that it is a gift given only to royalty. I’ll never forget the words a dear friend said to me once in the midst of my pains, “You are the child of a King, why are you afraid?!” Unfortunately, over the times, western culture has conditioned us away from the true meaning of freedom. The phrases, “Don’t judge me, I can do whatever I want” and “It’s a free country, I’ll do as I please” exemplify this misinterpretation.

Freedom to choose was never intended to be a scapegoat for us to do as we please, but a gift given from on high, allowing us in return to unite it with our Creator as an expression of our love. Christ knew the folly and limitations of our thinking, and we are warned that ironically our “freedom” can become our very own captivity.

as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. (1 Peter 2:16)

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Galatians 5:13)

The freedom that comes from being connected to the divine image was intended to give the individual their individuality, or to simply put it their uniqueness. It is because we are free, that we can express the divine image in our own distinctive, unique way.

Kallistos Ware says “within each of us there is a priceless treasure not to be found in anyone else… For each has a vocation for creating something beautiful in his or her own unrepeatable way.”

This. This is what He intended when He said “Let us make man in our image”; The freedom to express our love to Him in our own unique way.

I leave you with this question. Are you truly living free as one who is in His image?

I pray that God gives us the true freedom, which we can use to serve his glorified name, growing each day in His love.

“Every Christian must be part artist. We craft lives of meaning through faith. And this means reaching out to engage those who differ while never losing appreciation for what sets us apart.”
-Father Andrew of Athos

I grew up thinking, you were either creative or you weren’t. I categorized myself as the latter since I couldn’t draw, write or produce drama. I spent most of my life detaching myself from anything that required creativity or imagination because to me that part of my brain just didn’t work.

We are the result of creation, and that means that He who fashioned us gave us the ability and the capacity to also create. We are all artists and poets, and I’ve come to learn that creativity is so much more than painting a portrait, writing a profoundly deep story or producing a moving film.

So what is creativity exactly?

Simply put, you.

It’s you.

It’s you in your daily interactions, in the way you interact with the stranger you meet, in the way you plan a trip to a new destination, the way you take on disappointments in life, the way you come up with an idea to improve your business’ efficiency or sales. It’s you in the way you carefully think out a recipe to make that perfect meal for the ones you love.

Beauty is in creativity.

Our sensitivity to beauty is but a glimpse of how man saw the world before corruption seeped into our very nature.

Understanding beauty is an important aspect when we create. Beauty is not static; it is not confined to any one person’s perception, but it is dynamic in the sense that it continues to develop. And when true beauty is fully cultivated it has the space to flourish in whatever direction it pleases.

Beauty is in the touch of love, in the healing words we can whisper to our neighbor and in how we have the ability to be woven into each other’s lives.

However, the most beautiful work of art is in the work of being made by Grace. It is in becoming the final tapestry of work yourself. In writing songs, you become the song itself, in painting a canvas you become a painting, all for the glory of the One who made you.

Creativity is our vocation.

“Being fashioned in His image means that we are also artists and poets, regardless of our vocation in life. We are artists in the way we love. We are poets in the way we pray. Everyone is an artist.”
-Jonathan Jackson

Creativity encompasses all that we as humans are able to achieve, craft and produce.

Every time we engage in anything then we are engaging in art. We are participating with the Creator Himself and we become fellow co-workers. Our responsibility as artists then is to lead others into a more profound meaning of their existence and ultimately to our collective purpose in life.

But what stops us from creating?

A threat to our creativity is our brokenness. We cannot be creative when we are wounded because we behave, act, think and feel based out of our own hurt. However, when we are in the process of healing, creativity flows freely.

Healing needs to be our companion and teacher, otherwise we roam the earth allowing our wounds to have the driver’s seat, blinding us from seeing our potential to create.

In denying that we are wounded, we deny ourselves of being human. Rather than believing that we have the capacity to become great we spend the rest of our lives thinking so low of ourselves, capping our growth.

“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.”
-Edward de Bono

Creativity can also be threatened by cultural norms. We become entangled with cultural chains that do us harm. They tell us that we have to think in a certain way, follow certain career paths, have the same life goals, act in a certain way, and sadly enough, feel a certain way. We have becomes slaves to society.

It was people like Martin Luther King, J.R.R Tolkien, Steve Jobs who broke through cultural norms. In doing so they created beauty: they created a society welcoming all walks of life, a new world of fantasy that spoke so deeply to the human soul, and technology that echoes throughout the generations.

Friendships inspire creativity.

Friendships are a main ingredient to our creativeness. They allow us to bounce ideas off another and together produce wonder, beauty and awe. We shouldn’t live in isolation from those who encourage our creativity and imagination.

If we do, we end up living in our own cave, having no one to enrich our lives, we suffocate ourselves in our own unspoken words. We are paralyzed in our growth as we become ‘okay’ with the mundane life, with no new sense of adventure, no new flavors to taste in our mouths. We, therefore, cease to live, and in doing so we cease to create. We merely exist but are not alive.

Tolkien could not have completed his masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, if it weren’t for the great encouragement he received from C. S. Lewis, and visa versa.

Like Tolkien needed Lewis, I am in need of you.

Freedom is the essence of creativity.

When we are perplexed by hints of splendor, we enter into a union with the ultimate Creator. This breaks our soul’s chains and awakens us to the immortal longing that resides in our heart and the soft whisper that cries out ‘be free and create’.

Be free my friend.

Be free and create.

Others around you are in need of your beauty and creativity.

“Whoever wants to become a Christian, must first become a poet.”
-Elder Porphyrios

(Photo by Manish Ray)