In the opening of his 1975 book, The Courage to Create (W. W. Norton & Company), psychologist Rollo May makes a strong plea for reclaiming the vitality and goodness of our world against the tendency towards decay, antipathy, and inhumanity. May warns that inaction against inhumanity is a capitulation in the face of evil and a failure of the human person’s capacity to do good. Yet it is difficult to work towards positive change if we are unable to engage our creative spirit.
In his 1916 work, The Meaning of the Creative Act, Russian philosopher and theologian Nikolai Berdyaev suggests that Christ’s salvific act on the cross was a creative act that has instilled in humanity a new and positive purpose. The goal of the human family, then, is to be creative, and in our creativity, we manifest our nature as God’s children, made in the divine image.
During the season of Lent, we remember Christ’s creative action on the cross and embrace the invitation to live as followers of Christ. This means we take up the challenge to make a difference in our world, as Christ did. We commemorate the fulfillment of God’s creative will through Christ, which makes it possible for us to live as God’s children.
Because we are the children of God, the spirit of Christ has been given to us—the spirit of creativity and renewal. The spirit moves us to carry on the work that has been divinely inaugurated in Christ. Our freedom in Christ, when unencumbered by the vagaries of earthly life, emboldens our ministry of creative renewal.
To go through the season of Lent without contributing to this work of renewal—without working towards a safer, more humane, and dignified society—is to undermine the creative spirit we have received through Christ. It would be a disservice to our union with God.
In Berdyaev’s view, creativity is inseparable from freedom. Only a free person creates. Because our freedom is in Christ, our expression of freedom must have a good purpose and yield positive fruit. And the Spirit of Christ within us allows us to express this freedom (2 Cor 3:17).
Our freedom in Christ also manifests itself in loving relationships (Gal 5:13). Freedom cannot reveal itself in self-indulgence or as a pretext to do evil or cause pain to another child of God (1 Peter 2:16). When we exploit our freedom negatively, for its own sake, it ceases to be the creative expression of our union with Christ. Such expression of freedom has no purpose outside itself, no tangible or positive effect on the life of a person or society.
How can we engage our creative spirit? Let us take inspiration from the depiction of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus began his ministry of service proclaiming a change in the human condition (Mark 1:14–15). Those who experienced Jesus’ creative presence in their lives felt such a change (Mark 1:40–45), and those who followed him engaged their own creative spirits for the sake of the kingdom of God. Jesus’ creative courage inspired them to bring change and renewal to humankind.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter’s speech to the crowd expresses Jesus’ followers collective resolve to continue Jesus’ ministry of change and transformation for humanity (Acts 2:14–15). Later, when he and John address the religious leaders in Jerusalem about their healing of the crippled man, they testify to the creative freedom they have received through Christ (Acts 4:13–22).
Like the early followers of Christ, we too are called to the work of making the world a better place. Let us remember the words of St. Paul in the Letter to the Romans: Each of us has a different gift, according to the grace given to us (12:6). God’s grace should move us toward engagement in the world and inspire us to help humanity towards the fulfillment God has inaugurated in Christ.
The ministry of Christ led to the reconciliation of God and humanity (2 Cor. 5:18–20). The same ministry is now entrusted to us. In an afflicted world, we are called to bring renewal.
Today, various forms of indignity mar human lives and society. People look to the future with fear and uncertainty. Many people are lonely, depressed, and anxious. Racial tensions and inequality exacerbate anger and class struggle. Violence afflicts our communities, and war afflicts the world. Human lives are wantonly violated, as are the livelihoods and resources they labored years to acquire. Leadership at all levels has failed, creating disillusionment and antipathy in both society and the church.
In this time of unease, our information and communication technologies can have positive uses. But these technologies can also have dangerous effects on human dignity, even on human life, as young people struggle with self-esteem and online violence.
This season of Lent invites us to resist this culture of violence and hopelessness, to build one another up. We must align our values to our collectve identity as God’s children, so that the stories we leave behind, about our relationships with one another, are positive and loving ones.
During Lent, many of us connect on the parish level with the world around through contributions to the Rice Bowl collection. But we should also engage with our community, working to reduce the harm humans often inflict on one another. In the spirit of creativity we have received through Christ, we must steady our resolve to do good. Our freedom in Christ spurs us to stand up against hate, violence, and inequality towards any child of God.
To convince ourselves that we cannot change the treacherous path of death our world is treading is to diminish the power of the freedom we have in God. Our creativity calls for fraternity with the world. It draws us out of ourselves, toward service, solidarity, and presence with the wounded and broken children of God. It demands that we honor the worth of every human person, as Pope Francis called us to do in Fratelli Tutti (On Fraternity and Social Friendship).
Christ died for everyone. This means no child of God should live in indignity and suffering.
Image: Unsplash/Josh Applegate
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