He always wanted to explain things. But no one cared. So he drew.
Sometimes he would draw and it was anything.
He wanted to carve it in stone or write it in the sky.
And it would BE the sky and things inside him that needed saying.
It was a beautiful picture.
He kept it under his pillow and would let no one see it.
He would look at it every night and think about it.
And when it was dark, and his eyes were closed, he could still see it.
And it was all of him. And he loved it.
When he started school he brought it with him.
Not to show anyone, but just to have it with him like a friend.
It was funny at school. He sat in a square, brown desk.
Like all the other square, brown desks. And he thought it should be red.
And his room was a square brown room.
Like all the other rooms. And it was tight and close. And stiff.
He hated to hold the pencil and chalk, with his arm stiff and his feet flat on the floor, Stiff.
With the teacher watching and watching. The teacher came and spoke to him.
She told him to wear a tie like all the other boys. He said he didn't like them. She said it didn't matter. After that they drew.
And he drew all yellow and it was the way he felt about morning. And it was beautiful.
The teacher came and smiled at him.
"What's this?" she said. "Why don't you draw something like Ken's drawing? Isn't it lovely?"
After that his mother bought him a tie. And he started drawing airplanes and rocket ships like everyone else.
And he threw the old picture away.
He lay alone looking at the sky, it was big and blue and all of everything.
But he wasn't anymore. He was square inside and brown
And his hands were stiff. And he was like everyone else.
And the things inside him that needed saying didn't anymore.
It had stopped pushing. It was crushed. Stiff. Like everything else.

This Poem was written by a 14 year old boy. He gave it to his English teacher then committed suicide 2 weeks later.

Do you remember a time when your creative spirit was crushed? For most people the consequences are not as extreme as the 14 year old who wrote the poem. However for all of us, something does die when the things inside of you that need saying stop pushing. You become square and brown inside. Your life purpose is dulled.

Eckhart Tolle’s book, A New Earth, is a guide to awakening your life’s purpose, the creative spirit inside you that needs to be expressed. You will do this by growing to understand and embrace layers of your crushed self, or what Tolle calls the pain body and returning to your original free spirited state. Think of the pain body as brown and square and stiff. Think of your true essence as the sky; big and blue and all of everything. Tolle says, you have a pain body, but you are not that pain body. You are capable of so much more. Awaken to a life that is so much more than other people’s expectations, and your own self limiting thoughts. As you do this, you will be part of creating a new earth.

The creative spirit is often crushed at an early age. Gordon Mackenzie was an artist with Hallmark who spoke to groups about getting in touch with the artist within. When he spoke to school groups, he always began by noticing the art on the walls and asking the question, “How many artists are there present today.” The responses were predictable.

When he asked kindergarten and first grade kids, almost every child would leap out of their chairs and virtually wrench their arms out of their sockets to get his attention. In second grade, about half the kids would raise their hands. In third grade, about 10 kids of 30 would tentatively, self consciously raise their hands. By the time he reached sixth grade, no more than one or two would nervously raise their hands.

Art is Creative Expression

Do I dare ask the question to a group of adults? How many of you are artists?

I want to see every hand raised. I think of myself as an artist even though I can barely draw a recognizable stick figure. I was once playing “Pictionary” and couldn’t get a group of adult team members to recognize my sheep. People were calling out “bus” and “cloud” and finally gave up amidst groans about how they ever got stuck with me on their team. My art is not drawing. My art is the use of words and stories to reconnect you with your spirit. What is your art?

Every person is an artist. The Bible says that all people are created in the image of God. How do I know that God is an artist? The Lord’s Prayer of course- “Our Father, who does art in heaven.” You know the one. Harold is his name.

The nature of God is to create. Maybe you picture God as a supernatural being who created and sustains the world. Maybe you picture God as the Source of all Life, and every moment as being a new creative event. Some theologians speak of creative interchange to describe this process of unfolding, co created life. Either way, you are born in the image of a creative God. Eckhart Tolle might say that all things are the image of all other things; all of creation reflects your essence back to you if you can get past your incessant naming and labeling of creation. Matthew Fox might describe this as the space where divine creativity interacts with human imagination.

Your life’s purpose is creative expression. You may choose to express yourself through particular roles for a time. You may express your life’s purpose as parent or as a painter. You might express your life’s purpose as a grandparent or a glassblower. You might express your life’s purpose as a student or a sculptor. It’s less important what role or function you fill. It’s more important that the things inside of you that need to be expressed find their expression.

Awakening to your Life’s Purpose

How do you know if you are expressing your life’s purpose? The great playwright, Arthur Miller was once asked, “Are you writing another play?" His answer was brilliant. He said, "I don't know, but I probably am." When you are expressing your life’s purpose, it often feels as if something is being expressed that is beyond your own mind. You are transcending your own time bound roles and personality. It’s less like you are expressing your life’s purpose, and more like your life’s purpose is flowing through you like breathe in a body. It requires no effort.

The great composer, Mozart, said that his music often presented itself to his imagination. He had no choice but to stop what he was doing and write the music down. It was as if something beyond his own consciousness was writing his symphonies.

I’m sure it wasn’t always effortless for Mozart, and it won’t always be effortless for you. But sometimes, the best thing you can do in order to express your life’s purpose is get out of the way. Stop over thinking decisions. Stop over analyzing other people’s words. Quit second guessing the ideas that come to you at 3 in the morning. Let your natural wisdom and creativity flow freely.

Other times, your life’s purpose (or purposes) will take hard work and practice. World famous Cellist, Pablo Casals practiced every day for 4 hours. Someone once asked him, 'Mister Casals, you are a master, you have accomplished so much. Why do you keep practicing four hours a day when you are 93?' He said, 'Well, I'm finally beginning to notice some improvement.'

Your life’s purpose never ends, because it has a life of its own, and this life has an impact beyond your knowledge, and well beyond your physical death.

Creative Expression Born of Pain

Often, your life’s purpose will be an expression of your pain or sadness you have survived. You have the opportunity to heal your pain and use this pain itself as a creative expression in service of others in pain.

I heard a story that illustrates this beautifully. It’s from the novel My Name is Asher Lev, by Chaim Potok. It’s the story of a Jewish family in Brooklyn shortly after WW2. Asher’s father was an activist seeking to advocate for Jewish people after the Holocaust. It was assumed that Asher would follow in his father’s footsteps but instead Asher discovered an amazing gift for painting. None, especially his father, understood his passion. Asher, the creator, was torn apart by his artistic gift.

He chose to use the Christian crucifix as a symbol for his family’s pain. He painted the faces of his mother and father along with the crucifix. In so doing, he alienated his parents. And yet at the same time, he discovered his connected to the life force that both creates and destroys.

At the end of the novel, he has to leave his religious community for a time. He said this, "I looked at my right hand, the hand with which I painted. There was power in that hand. Power to create and destroy…there was in that hand the demonic and the divine at the same time. The demonic and divine were two aspects of the same force. Creation was demonic and divine. Creativity was demonic and divine. Art was demonic and divine… I was demonic and divine. Asher Lev paints good pictures and hurts people he loves."
He then hears the voice of God reply, "Then be a great painter, Asher Lev; that will be the only justification for all the pain you will cause…. Journey with me, my Asher. Paint the anguish of all the world. Let people see the pain."

Asher Lev does so, even though to answer the call of his art is excruciating. Asher Lev discovers that through his call to creativity he becomes fully human, and also fully connected to the divine. He learns that authentic art is not always beautiful or easy. He learns that his spirit can only be whole when he expresses what is inside of him.

Sometimes your life purpose will put you at odds with family or friends. Maybe you have ended a relationship and been accused of tearing a family apart. If you know that you have to end the relationship in order to be true to yourself, and you know there will be pain for all involved, then make the pain worth it. Express the pain of broken relationships in your life’s work and be part of the healing of so many people and relationships.

This community’s purpose sometimes puts us at odds with mainstream Christianity. It causes pain to some that we are thriving as a community. That saddens me, but I know it is necessary that there is a community like this for people who are seeking something universal, independent and compassionate, rather than denominational and dogmatic. Make the pain worth it by being an extraordinarily loving and creative community.

Creative Expression that is not Ego Dominated

I saw a bumper sticker during the week. It said- “I don’t have a big ego. I’m way too cool for that.” Lets face it, we all battle with ego. When it comes to being creative and living your life purpose, ego can still get in the way. Ego can manifest as self importance, or ego can manifest as self doubt. It can masquerade as “look at me and my amazing creativity” or it can masquerade as “I could never create anything of any significance”.

To create with a healthy sense of ego is to know that you are part of a universal creative interchange. It’s not all about you, and at the same time you are significant. Whatever flows through you is part of a new earth. Nothing more and nothing less.

Let me suggest a spiritual practice, something you could do this week to become more aware of who are you beyond labels such as artist and good person. This spiritual practice will enable you to create more powerfully, but with a healthy ego.

Do something creative this week. Do it very intentionally and mindfully. But do it in such a way that no one knows you did it. It’s like a random act of kindness, but instead of just acting kindly, this will be a creative act of yours. This will be an expression of your largest self and no one will know its you. It might not be for anyone in particular. It will just make the earth a better place for all people.

Leave a note in a library book for the next person who reads it- write something like ‘may the reader of this book know peace and contentment.’ Maybe it will fall out and never be seen, but it doesn’t matter. You have manifested your highest purpose as a co creator of a new earth.

Design a beautiful poem or drawing, and leave it on the table of a restaurant for the next person to read, or the waiter. Maybe it will be thrown in the garbage, but it doesn’t matter. You have expressed your creativity and done it without the need to have your identity bolstered.

Create a new email address, that doesn’t have your name in the address. Send an email that affirms the beauty of life and send it to everyone you know. It might get trashed, and to some it will be spam. But it doesn’t matter. You have expressed the things inside of you that need saying and your words are a gift to the universe.

Creating a New Earth

In the Boston Holocaust memorial there are 6 pillars, 5 of them telling stories of cruelty and suffering. The sixth pillar tells a different story. This one tells the story of two 6 year old girls in Auschwitz. One of them, Ilse, found a single raspberry in the camp. She hid it in her coat and carried it around all day. That evening, her eyes shining with happiness, she presented the raspberry on a leaf to her friend, Guerda. As Guerda wrote, “Imagine a world in which your entire possession is one raspberry, and you give it to your friend.”

Imagine a new earth where you hold to your possessions, your titles, your labels and your mind’s assumptions so lightly that you could give it all away and you would only be a larger person?

The planet stands at a crossroads. The fear of scarcity is taking hold. The economy is struggling. The earth is groaning. People are suffering unnecessarily. The world is starting to look brown and square. You have within you the sky, and it’s all of everything, and it’s beautiful. All the world needs from you is that you express what’s inside of you and you will be part of creating a new earth.