Creating as Worship
Creating as Worship
I enjoy the act of creating.
It’s something I take for granted. Being creative is so ingrained in who I am that it’s hard for me to imagine not being creative. My parents are both creative people, and it’s just always been something that feels right. And people who claim they aren’t creative baffle me and it makes me sad for them. Which sounds…judgier than I mean it to be. It’s just that I get so much joy out of it; I want other people to know that joy.
A lot of my creative energies are spent in long projects—writing fiction, quilting, you get the idea. But baking…with baking I get to see a tangible good within just a few hours. It’s great.
Usually I gravitate towards cupcakes and cakes—things you get to decorate. That’s the fun part.
But yesterday I got an idea to make biscuits. (From scratch.) We didn’t have Bisquick. I checked. I looked for the easy way out.
I wanted scrambled eggs with toast for lunch. But there was no bread.
So I made biscuits. (From scratch.)
Do you see the irony in that? Instead of just finding something else that would have been just as easy, I made the task even bigger and more time consuming. Once I knew we had all of the ingredients, there was nothing holding me back from trying it. I was eager to have something to put my hands to.
(I realize that this could be a great Food Friday post, but I don’t plan on sharing the recipe or how I made them with you. I found the recipe on Pinterest. They turned out a little dry and a smidge salty. But they’re good with butter and honey.)
The recipe I chose was hands on. I cut the shortening and milk into the dry mixture with my bare hands. I didn’t love the dough sticking to my fingers. But I did love knowing that I was literally changing the nature of the ingredients into something completely new. The dough was never going to be just flour again, or just Crisco again. It was something new. And this new creation was greater than the individual parts.
The whole process was simple. It was easy. It was edifying.
This act of creating is an act of worship for me. It’s my way of harkening back to the ultimate Creator.
The concept of worship is one that keeps coming back around. It’s been the subject of a couple sermons and it’s been something we touched on in my Bible study. And in between those instances, I’m doing my own processing on what worship looks like for me. It’s bigger than just Sunday morning.
As I made dough out of flour, so He made me from the dust.
As I kneaded the dough, so He molds me.
As I changed the nature of ingredients forever, so He has changed me.
But it’s a pale reflection of His goodness. My biscuits were dry and a smidge salty. But His work in me is everlasting and steadfast.
