“Art is an inherently hopeful act, an act that echoes the creativity of the Creator.” — Makoto Fujimura, Refractions
I know that work and art echo God’s workmanship and artistry; the beginning of Genesis states that God created mankind in his image. What causes me to pause is the former part of Fujimura’s statement. “Art is an inherently hopeful act.”
I understand the concept on a human level. When I begin a poem, essay, or drawing, I hope it will turn into something good. I desire it every time I come to the page or screen. Sometimes, the hope is fulfilled. Other times, it isn’t.
The failures could snuff out hope, but they don’t, at least not very often. My perfectionism sometimes gets the better of me, and I sink into a morass of negativity and despair. Usually, something, I’m guessing God, intervenes and reminds I was created to create and glorify him. I remember I’m human, too, who will fail. When it happens, I recall Richard Hugo who says that the failed, crappy work put in one project leads to the sudden ease of the next.
None of that causes an unduly long pause. The complete halt arises from thinking about God hoping. I cognitively know he hopes because he wired the quality into creation and humanity. Hope makes itself known in every sunrise, a kind word spoken, a long-desired dream fulfilled.
However, what interests me more is the idea of God hoping when he spoke the universe into being, when man and woman lived at perfect ease with him in the garden. What hopes filled “let there be”? What hopes infused his commands to creation? Which ones did he keep to himself because a human brain couldn’t fathom them? I stop and consider. What magnificent and glorious hopes they must have been.
They still are. God’s hopes don’t end with Adam and Eve eating from the tree or me falling to temptation yet again. They stand firm, as he does. He still hopes for his creation and children, hopes so far above me that I don’t where to begin praying for or dreaming about them. He accomplishes them anyway because he’s God; he’s my heavenly Father; and he’s in the business of making all things new.
Bible verses for further reference:
- Genesis 1:27
- Isaiah 43:19
- Isaiah 55:8-9
- Lamentations 3:21-3
- Ezekiel 36:22-38
- Romans 8:18-25
- 2 Corinthians 5:17
- Ephesians 2:8-10
- Ephesians 3:20-1
- Revelation 21:5
Image: Hacienda (Creative Commons)