Get the appReimagining Your Creative Life: A Five-Day YouVersion Plan by Sho BarakaНамуна
A Redemptive Narrative
We all want our work to matter. We all want to create from a deep place, a good place. And this is how we start well: It should be a daily practice to look back with wisdom while looking forward with optimism. That perspective helps us ask the important questions: How can knowing history help me make better contributions tomorrow? Do I use my work for good, or is the outcome avarice, shame, or demoralization?
Each of us is creative. Each of our lives becomes a canvas displaying what our idea of good is. But without humility, we make terrible gods. The same talent that can help us shape the world for Christ can be used to carve dark idols. We all have gold and shadow—the light and the dark sides of our creativity. We all carry a bit of sensitivity about our work, beliefs, and identity. We desire to create a world that would honor and protect those aspects of us. That desire is often admirable, but our methods can be dangerous.
There is much to mourn in this world and in myself. But I have resolved that I will not live in despair. Nor will the deplorable acts of the past define me. My present is centered in a redemptive narrative. My future is full of hope. And I pray you have similar resolutions. I stand here because of the resilience and hope of those heroes who’ve gone before me:
The organizational skills of Richard Allen.
The leadership of Harriet Tubman.
The passion of David Walker.
The intellect of Anna Julia Cooper.
The imagination of Phillis Wheatley.
The foresight of Alexander Crummell.
The wisdom of Frederick Douglass.
The creativity of George Washington Carver.
The courage of Fannie Lou Hamer.
The relevance of Tom Skinner.
Jesus walked with them. He walks with me.
He walks with you.
And I believe that, together, our creative life can repair this broken world.
Will you join me?
In light of Genesis 1, how does creativity help redeem a broken world? What difference does it make as far as daily work and relationships to believe you are part of a redemptive narrative?
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About this Plan
Your story shapes the world around you. Which is why, whatever your hands find to do, you can use your creativity to bring gold or shadow into reality. You were created to create. You were created to love justice. You were created to live mercy. Discover how the gospel brings these longings together as Sho’s words transform how you see God, your neighbor, and your creative life.
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