{"id":34299,"date":"2023-12-05T05:32:43","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T13:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=34299"},"modified":"2023-11-26T05:41:27","modified_gmt":"2023-11-26T13:41:27","slug":"a-liturgy-for-the-inner-creative-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/a-liturgy-for-the-inner-creative-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"A Liturgy for the Inner Creative Battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle<\/span><\/i> sounds like an intense and intimidating read. The author, Steven Pressfield, is clearly passionate and experienced as a creative professional. While parts of the book felt reminiscent of Austin Kleon’s <\/span>Steal Like an Artist<\/span><\/i>, this book’s main idea was more clearly defined. Basically, successful artists discipline themselves and stay focused on their art in the face of distractions and criticism. This is never more important than when those distractions and criticism come from within.<\/span><\/p>\n

The practical applications that Pressfield develops are fairly obvious. Work hard every day. If you are self-sabotaging, stop it. Stay committed for the long haul. Trust the process. Oh wait, he didn’t actually say that last one, but our seminary’s favorite mantra seems to fit.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the theme that I found most fascinating was Pressfield’s spirituality and how he wove it through his creative process. He describes an artist’s creative aspirations in the way I would describe God’s calling on my life. It’s something deep within, something that makes me feel alive when I’m working in it.<\/span><\/p>\n

I resonate with the concluding lines of the book:<\/span><\/p>\n

Are you a born writer? Were you put on earth to be a painter, a scientist, an apostle of peace? In the end the question can only be answered by action. Do it or don\u2019t do it [1].<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

These lines describe perfectly how God called us to France in 2010. After 5 years of married life, my husband and I had a townhouse and a dog and we wanted to start a family. We had also always felt a call to the mission field. That was when we sensed God saying, “Were you called to this? Do it or don’t do it. What’s your choice?” Ultimately, our choice was to take action.<\/span><\/p>\n

That said, I cringed to read Pressman\u2019s assertion (albeit purposefully exaggerated) that if we all followed our creative passions we will have \u201cno need for shrinks, prisons, alcohol, tobacco, junk food, cosmetics, hospitals\u201d and his list goes on and on [2]<\/span>. I fear that this kind of thinking sets people up for heartbreak and crises of faith. Adversity is sure to come, as are the simply mundane and tedious parts of life. This mentality that says following your passion will lead to an amazing and fulfilled life is smacks of prosperity gospel. When life gets difficult, we all need a robust theology of suffering otherwise our faith will likely be left in shambles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Interestingly, Pressfield seems to almost contradict himself later when he says, “The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not. He will be dining for the duration on a diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, and humiliation.”<\/span> [3] He is admitting that the life of a committed artist will not be all sunshine and roses, but rather it will require dedication and perseverance, both words we are very familiar with as Christians in ministry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Later on, Pressfield mentions his own daily ritual of invoking a higher power at the beginning of his work day. He references the start of Homer\u2019s Odyssey:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cO Divine Poesy, goddess, daughter of<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i> Zeus, sustain for me this song of the<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i> various-minded man\u2026\u201d [4]<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i>
\n<\/span>I won’t belabor his analysis of Homer’s invocation, but it did remind me of the Rule of Life I stumbled upon at the start of our doctoral journey. I’ve been aiming to pray upon waking, when I sit at my desk to begin my work day, when I return to my desk after lunch, and when I finally close my laptop at the end of the day. It’s become my personal liturgy as I aim to create something new and hopefully beautiful in my context.<\/span><\/p>\n

In that spirit, I offer an invocation for beginning the “Inner Creative Battle”:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCreator God, in whose image we are made, You have granted me a creative vision, an abiding passion and this time and space in which to work.<\/span><\/p>\n

You also know the limits of my humanness, that I will become distracted and tired. You know that I have only so many hours in this day because you created the day itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

May my efforts be multiplied like the loaves and fish that my work might glorify You. At the same time, may I learn to be content with a day’s work, leaving the fruits of my labor in your hands, because You are the Master Gardener.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

______________________________________<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Steven Pressfield, <\/span>The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle (New York, <\/span><\/i>RUGGED LAND, LLC, 2002) 158.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n
  2. Ibid., 15.<\/li>\n
  3. Ibid., 71.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Ibid., 118.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle sounds like an intense and intimidating read. The author, Steven Pressfield, is clearly passionate and experienced as a creative professional. While parts of the book felt reminiscent of Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist, this book’s main idea was more clearly defined. Basically, successful artists discipline […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":186,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2489,2197],"class_list":["post-34299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp02","tag-pressfield","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/186"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34300,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34299\/revisions\/34300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}