Day 17: ONE can't Create

Some days it's the whole reading, some days it's a quote, some days it's just a word... and some days, it's a thought not even related to the reading.  That is the Journey of "Authentic Lent".  I am grateful to be following along with the readings of "Atheism for Lent".  There is a lot of food for thought.  Some more tasty, some not so appetizing.  But every day, I find myself with an inspiration of sorts.  

This morning, I was soaking in the hot tub and a thought came to me.  

"One can't create".  

The creative process, no matter what it is being created, requires a community.  

Who makes a painting?  The artist, the manufacturer of the canvas, the designer of the brushes, the hands that mix the colours of the paint?  

Who makes a movie?   The actors, the directors, the producers, the script writers, the stage hands, the set constructors?

Who makes a poem?  The inspiration, the poet, the computer programer of the word processor or the trees where the paper comes from?  

Creativity and Creating is done in community.  There is no exception.  

In my mind, no one said it better than A.J. Jacobs in his book "Thanks a Thousand".  He wanted to thank the people responsible for "creating" his morning cup of coffee.  He ended up with a thousand expressions of gratitude from the barrister, to the cup manufacturer, to the farmers who grew the beans, to the people who paved the roads so the trucks who hauled the beans could get to the processing plant.  A.J Jacobs understood that "One can't create." 

Maybe that is why the writers of the Genesis story made the Creator a "we".  Maybe they understood something of the process of creation. Over the millennium, most of humanity has tried to understand and paint a picture of the "ONE" who built the cosmos.  "ONE" has to be responsible for it all.... Right?  But "ONE" can't create.  No exceptions.  So what does community look like for the "Manufacturer of the Universe"?  Maybe that community involves time, movement, atoms, exploding stars, environments that encourage adaptation... and the list goes on. 

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Today is Meister Eckhart day... so I didn't want to leave him out.  He has a lot of good things to say.  I will end this post with some of the quotes I pulled off the internet.  

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“Theologians may quarrel, but the mystics of the world speak the same language.” ME

“If I had a friend and loved him because of the benefits which this brought me and because of getting my own way, then it would not be my friend that I loved but myself. I should love my friend on account of his own goodness and virtues and account of all that he is in himself. Only if I love my friend in this way do I love him properly.” ME

"The most important hour is always the present.

The most significant person is precisely the one sitting across from you right now.

The most necessary work is always love." ME

"What good is it to me that Mary gave birth to the son of God fourteen hundred years ago, and I do not also give birth to the Son of God in my time and in my culture? We are all meant to be mothers of God. God is always needing to be born." ME

“There’s a place in the soul where you’ve never been wounded." ME

“The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of making a mistake.” ME

“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.” ME