Day 20: Steeple Complex

Hey there reader whom I often call lovely!

Photo by Damla Özkan on Unsplash

So, today is December 20th, which means there are only 5 days left in my 25 Days of Creativity. Currently, I'm being all reflective and quiet and thinking about life and how it all relates to me and to my faith.

I wrote a poem earlier this week I titled the "Height of Steeples."

My hands spend time learning how to

extend into the clouds the way steeples

have been built to rest in the space of heaven

I am elongated limbs on a quest

for intimacy just beneath

stars and moons

and between galaxies and constellations

lie a realm all too familiar

yet never visited enough

After writing this poem I was quite pleased. Sometimes I feel that I can be hard on myself and not value the quality of my poems because there is this desire to write well all the time.

My inspiration for the poem was the idea of worship and I remembered this detail from an Art History class I took in high school. We were studying architecture and we would study buildings and cathedrals from certain periods and the one thing that was constant in many of the buildings were steeples or domes.

Steeples can be described as a church tower or spire. They are the parts of the building reaching upward into the clouds, sometimes so high they quite literally reside in the same space as the clouds.

The reason architects would go to such lengths to build steeples was not simply for the sake of being ostentatious, but some people believed that the the height of the steeple was to be symbolic of humanity's desire to be closer to God. To some, steeples were not just to showcase wealth, or to promote the practicality of announcing times of worship, it was a symbol of the heights to which people longed for intimacy with God.

As I wrote about steeples I thought of my own longing for God and how I'm developing an understanding that my poetry, dance, and my words are also worship just as much as me singing to him in a church on a Sunday morning.

As I've been on this journey of creativity I have come to this realization-- the simple beauty of worship.

There is a scripture that says, "Whether you eat or drink, live your life in a way that glorifies and honors God." 1 Corinthians 10:31 TPT

Worship is living our lives and honoring God in every single aspect of it.
I think sometimes for people who are creative, there is an inner struggle of understanding that art can be honorable to God. There is just as much purpose in the poet, the dancer, the painter as in the missionary, priest, or any other occupation. That is why this scripture in Corinthians is so refreshing and beautiful.

In this quest of creativity I see the beauty in honoring God with the gifts he's given me. I see the joy in learning how to live my life in a way that pleases my Abba.

I hope that in the midst of this blog post this had made sense. I hope that you, dear reader, are seeking to know God and honor him with all that you do.

Understand that Christ and the Spirit of God has made it possible for us to know love, to know grace, and to know peace in such a real way and I believe that creativity, in part, comes from intimately knowing and believing that truth.

Sincerely,

~A