When The Muse Is Silent...

... The Artist Can Not Work - the writer can not write, the sculptor can not sculpt, the painter can not paint, the dancer can not dance, the designer can not design, the composer's pen is still and the singer's voice falls silent.

The word "muse", for the purpose of this writing, is used to represent that creative spirit, which God has put into man. That essence which is intended to reflect His image, and to create His Kingdom - with the help of God's own Spirit. Not that we get to "make it up as we go along", but we do get to take part in producing it! He has already designed it, down to the last detail. But then He "downloaded" pieces of that design into each of us, so that we could take part in reproducing His world, using His Word.

His Word, of course, comes first and foremost in the person of The Messiah, and the next most obvious form is the Holy Writ. But it also comes forth, fresh, new and vibrant, in a work well done, or a song well sung, or a thing of beauty - be it art or prose or poetry or a meticulously prepared meal. It emanates from a heart that is devoted to Him, and, through close communion, saturated with His essence. It flows from the inherent design that lies within each soul, it is activated by love, and driven by passion.

Each of us have a "bent", a gift, an ability, a thing to which we seem driven, a task or at which we excel, because we "love" it. Proverbs calls this "bent", "the way (we) should go", and encourages parents to seek this out for each individual child and to "train them up" in that. The choice comes, then, in how we choose to use the muse, as in whether we decide to create good, or to lay aside the work of creating, passively letting evil flow. Sadly, some would even employ the genius of the muse to enhance evil. I do not say "create evil", because evil is the antithesis of creativity. It breaks down, instead of builds up, there can be no such thing as "creative evil".

As a wrecking ball may make way for a new creation, however, its work is not to create, but to tear down. So it is with evil. It wreaks devastation. Always. Often, that is the very time when our ever industrious God takes the opportunity to re-create something even more lovely from the ashes. That which is made from the original "dust" is only natural in essence, but that which is made from ashes is refined, as it has had the tinges of the fallen nature burned out of it, much the same way as glass is produced. And like glass, the product of such intense heat becomes a glistening thing of beauty, transparent, light conducting, light reflecting, and fragile - but uncomplicated and simply beautiful.

When the muse rests, however, the artist must also rest from his or her labors, for nothing of any interest will be birthed, nothing of any beauty will be created. There is a void, a pause, which is frighteningly empty, suffocatingly dark and lifeless. The old saints called it "the dark night of the soul". It has also been called "writers' block". It is a frustration to those under the pressure of a deadline, and an annoyance to those of us who are "amateurs", trying to establish ourselves in some kind of credibility. But there is nothing for it, it is a necessary part of the creative process. This "down time" is also a part of the design, and the way God created things to work. It is called The Sabbath.

You see, He would have us to work in tandem with Himself. He desires our fellowship, He desires our worship. Not religious, stiff collared duty! No, but the worship of one lover to another, the passion of the artist for his art. The appreciation of the artist for the muse, and of others for the artist. We are born to be lovers. We must love something! Creation was made for love, by love and with love! Hate is the nemesis of all beauty, for beauty is defined by love. It is a twisted and unnatural thing to "love" that which is destructive, disharmonious, mismatched or shabbily designed.

We supposedly "free people" have, as part of the outworking of our rebellion to the idea of God, tried to come up with other criteria by which to judge beauty, art, music and life. We have even rejected His ideas of what love is to look and act like, and tried to create our own definitions. We are lame. And we have failed. We think so highly of ourselves, of our little mindless, boundary-rejecting, tasteless "creations", which are usually a bald mockery of the real thing. Do we really presume to think we can improve on His design? Really? How can we miss the fact that we are ridiculously idiotic in our results. And with every generation this aberration just gets worse and worse.

Yet there is hope, for woven into the fabric of our very natures (not the fallen one) is a desire for Him, and for His creative muse. There are not many who are completely dead to it, nor many who are fully alive to it. The vast majority exist in the land of "good enough", also known as "mediocrity", where marginal order is expected, but beauty, or excellence is not required, nor can it be aspired to, hoped for or dreamed of. This has been called the "dumbing-down" of society, seen by some as a deliberate plot, a mechanism whereby the few can control the many. I do think it is a plot, generated - not by man, but by his mortal enemy - to the destruction of the race if possible. But again, there remains hope, for the Muse lives!

The Word became flesh and lived among us, and was resurrected, and is now that Spirit who has come to re-create the original design from the ashes of fallen humanity, so that God's design will not be lost. Even human designers have a "plan-B". So, The God of the Universe will not be thwarted. His Love, His Beauty, His Design, His Man, will prevail. And more than that, we will become transparent works of art that reflect His light, His glory, and His love for what He has created. And with Him we will also create or generate more light, more love and more beauty. It is what we are created to do, it is what we are at our best when doing, and it is what we are most content doing.

Yet we need not resist or fret over the silent times either. Those are intended for our rest, so that, refreshed we can be ever renewed in our creative urges, and can therefore rise to new heights of beauty, new realms of glory, and new ecstasies of love. Those of us who have succumbed to the performance orientation tendencies of our times must learn this art of rest. It seems unnatural not to be in some sort of strain all the time. Indeed, those of my particular generation were trained to feel incredibly guilty if we paused for any reason! We were trained to "hold our pee and get the job done"! We did not go to the "rest-room" in the middle of the service, in the middle of a class, or in the middle of washing dishes. We waited until it was done!

But God is not a whip-cracking "Simon Le' Gree" sort of God. He has inserted "rests" even into good music! He has made us to work and rest in a kind of a rhythmic way, so that we are not idle nor burned-out. We are to look to Him for our timing and our inspiration, we are to trust His design and tune into the flow of it. We are to create it anew, to refresh it daily.

Since we can not possibly grasp where He is going with all of this it can be a frightening existence,especially if we do not know the heart of Him whose design we are caught up in. But when we get a taste of His love, His goodness, His patience, etc. the fears melt away and a grand sense of adventure is born, a  new yearning for vistas that are unfamiliar and therefore exciting. A need to explore, discover and create that which was designed before time began. That we can have part in it becomes an inspiring concept, a motivator, an instigator of dreams, and a kindling of a tiny fire of hope within us. A hope, that His Spirit then fans into the flames of creativity. That is the process. That is the Journey. That is life with the Muse.

Who was it that penned those fondly moving words, "Come along with me, the best is yet to be..."? They spoke of companionship, I think, but perhaps they won't mind if I borrow their invitation? We will see where the wind of the Spirit will blow us to next...

Selah.