Creative Honesty (Plumb: Lord, I'm Ready Now)

This song is honest. It's raw and real. There's something inviting about it's genuineness and openness that resonates with my own heart. Lately, I've been exploring my creative side (something I have not done in many, many years), reminding me of my university days at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I remember it being a chaotic time of self exploration and discovery. A time full of loud music, raw emotions, drugs and lots of drinking. I was in pain and sought to both numb this pain and to express it through music and art. 

I've always believed that artistic expression should come from the deep places within us. Art should express who we are at that moment in time because creative art often involves the retelling of specific moments and narratives from our life. This is why I believe that true art is honest. I remember sitting in a drawing class critique session and one of my fellow students showed one of his art piece and the first thing he said was that he really didn't care about what we said because the piece didn't really mean anything to him. I remember the whole class unanimously responded by saying "well, if you don't care about your own work, then why should we. If you're not emotionally invested in your work, then we're not going to be either."

Art is about the process. If we realize it or not, each moment of each day we are changing and growing. We are ever in process. Our interactions with people, the things we watch and listen to each day, the organizations that we are a part of, the different cultural expressions we encounter, our life experiences all have the power to impact us in transformative ways. Sometimes they go by seemingly unnoticed. At other times, we are deeply moved and changed. A wise person once told me, "Gerry, always keep creating. Let your art be an expression of your process." 

Because process is often messy and can be volatile at times, even chaotic. There is the temptation to wait until one has finished a season of process to create because it is more comfortable to create from a place of greater clarity, understanding and peace. But, I would encourage you to create both after you're done processing and while you're in those messy, volatile and chaotic times because I believe people are not only interested in seeing both, but can also be deeply blessed by seeing our process. But this will take courage, vulnerability and honesty. 

So this is my prayer: That God would give you the courage to create from the deep places within you with great honesty and inspiration. 

Honesty: the key to Genuine faith and relationships

Lying must always be traced back to the Devil, for he is the father of lies (John 8:44). Did I get your attention! This is why I believe honesty is a non-negotiable characteristic of the Christian faith. Without real honesty I would say that a genuine faith will be difficult to live out and genuine relationships will be difficult to have. If there are lies operating in our lives than anything that is influenced by or built around or on a lie can never be 100% genuine because the very nature of a lie is falsehood and whatever is false can never be 100% true and real. 

I've come across a definition of lying from an article which I appreciate: "Saying something false to someone who is entitled to know the truth is the very definition of lying. This includes misrepresenting or distorting facts in order to mislead a person. Omitting information to deceive someone, and exaggerating the truth in order to give a false impression also fall under that definition." 

The reason I appreciate this definition is because it encompassing the full spectrum of lying. Oftentimes, many people will internally justify distorting the facts, omitting information or exaggerating the truth for all kinds of reasons and motivations. But, at the end of the day, we lie because of fear. We are afraid of the responses of others. If we couldn't care less of what others thought of us, we could and would be completely honest with them all of the time. This is why little kids always tell the truth because they haven't been conditioned yet to be afraid of what others may think of them. They live in a place of freedom from the fear of rejection. 

I believe when we stand before God and have to give account for these situations, He will ask us why we didn't just tell the truth? And if there was information we were not comfortable in sharing why didn't we just say "There is more but I am uncomfortable in sharing this with you right now because..." Again, probably because of fear. But, the Good News is that God has given us His perfect love to drive out all fear from our lives (1 John 4:18). I know this is easier said than done, but it is still the truth we must allow into the very depths of our being and let it shape all that we are. 

I have done my fair share of spiritual direction, mentoring and counseling others and something that I repeatedly encourage in others is to share their heart. If you share your heart, you can never go wrong. Oftentimes, miscommunication and misunderstandings happen because instead of honestly sharing our hearts with others we end up giving excuses or lying (as defined above) which will always give others the wrong (and often false) impression because that is in essence what we are doing if we are not honestly sharing our heart with someone. 

Now, some of you may be thinking "well, people can't be trusted" and my loving response will always be "yes, I agree, but our trust isn't in people because they will (maybe not always but) at times let us down. No, our trust must always be in the Living God who holds our lives in His Almighty Hand (John 10:28-30). It is in Him we must place all of our trust." 

It's when we begin to shift our faith from God and begin placing it onto people, that fear will creep in and we'll be tempted to withhold truth and honesty from others. But, honesty must always begin with ourselves. If we cannot be honest with our own self, then we will never be able to be honest with others, let alone God. I can't stress this enough. So, my question to you the reader is, "How honest are you with yourself?" On a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being completely (brutally honest) and 1 being not so much (where lying, minimizing or exaggerating is an everyday thing you do with yourself): What number would you give yourself? 

What empowers me to live out a genuine faith in genuine relationships has its roots solely in God's love and care for my life, period.

If you are struggling with fully embracing God's love and care for your life, here's a wonderful video (3:54) which illustrates well what living in the security of the Father's love and care looks like.

This is my prayer: that the Almighty God of Heaven will release greater revelation to you about His perfect love and care for your life and that you would have many experiences and encounters with His love. In Jesus' Name, Amen.