I had some encouraging feedback from a designer about Creative Theology a little while back. They let me know that they appreciated the fact that the book was done well, both written well and designed well. I would like to think that it’s written well but the full impact from the book is felt because of the design. I could have written the book in a standard format, and it would have been okay (I talked more about why I didn’t do that in an interview with Jon Fulk). But the content dictated the format, and a standard book wouldn’t do. I needed something more.

This was appreciated by the designer because of the current lack of content being produced that’s…not ugly. It seems that for whatever reason, there is a lot of content (now more than ever) from the faith perspective done poorly. Blogs are written poorly, books are designed poorly, an so on. I don’t claim to have a corner on this market. However, I think we need to be mindful of the problem with ugly. It turns people away.
While I am saddened to read sloppily written content (content that is good no less!) and see ugly work in general, I hope that more church leaders will take notice.

Hire an editor.

Consult a designer.

Bring on an intern with a good eye and sense of style.

Do something.

After all, we reflect the master Creator.

Response to Creation, which is section 2.3 of Creative Theology has the following sentence:

Even patches of the man-madecounterfeit can bring pause

The sentence, which is about the impact creation can have on humans, came out of a writing exercise I completed as part of a non-fiction writing course at the University of Iowa. Not the sentence itself, but the epiphany that had to take place in order for the sentence to be written. The exercise was to carry around a notebook, everyday, and observe our surroundings. What struck us as unusual, or out of place, or mysterious, or beautiful?

Although I walked the same paths to and from class, sat in the same classrooms, roamed the same hallways, and maintained the same schedule, I began to notice peculiar things. One day, I remember being particularly struck by a bright red fire hydrant planted in a swatch of prairie grass. I was also struck by the beauty of the pentacrest lawn. The manicured shrubs and mowed grass, the precise spacing of trees, and the mixture of giant aged trees and young saplings. This was the landscape that surrounded me everyday, but I had never allowed myself to observe.

I learned a great lesson that day. Writers, along with anyone who wishes to have a deep connection and relationship with those (and those things) around them, need to master the art of observation.  

In this lesson, I uncovered a concept of the book: creation brings pause when observed. Of course, as I dug deeper, I realized that this observation spoke to the core of what it means to be human, what it means to be created in the image and likeness of the Creator, and what it means to have a relationship with the creative spirirt that set this whole thing in motion. I pray that those who read the book are lead to a place where they step into a deeper and more fruitful relationship with the creator of the heavens and the earth.

I have been lucky enough to have some generous folks lend me and my book space on their websites lately.

Mandy Stewart (@messycanvas) posted a response to the book. One sentence made me particularly happy:

My first response when I opened the PDF file? This is no ordinary book.

You can read her response to the book here.

I wrote a guest post for Restoration Living, which if you remember, caught my attention with their Advent resources. I wrote about how it all has to come from somewhere, and then I took a whack at what it all means. A snippet:

When it comes to creativity, it’s important to understand that nothing is created in a vacuum. Every creative burst, every problem solved…it all comes from somewhere. Some pay homage to the Muse, and others claim evolutionary progress. But we all have a deep sense that the creativity which propels us through life is indicative of something bigger than ourselves.

You can read the entire post here.

I was also able to guest post on Echo Hub, where I posted about how the new kingdom requires creators, not “creatives”

So we have a choice. We can buy into the myth that some are creative and others aren’t, or we can play a part in creating a new reality. A reality founded in the truth that we are all created to reflect the living God. A reality that our lives are bodies of work pointing to something larger than ourselves. A reality that this life is constantly pointing to a new reality that is yet to come, full of redemption and restoration.

You can read the entire post here.

I know you’re supposed to say this…but I mean it. I was honored to have Preston Yancey review Creative Theology over on his blog. A few quotes from the review:

We are taken into a conversation that expects a response, a narrative that we find our very being within, whether we realize it or not.

Sam is careful to identify each and every one of us as creatives, not as artists. The advantage to this is multifaceted. First, he takes care in allowing those called to the discipline of art to find their calling legitimate. Second, while honoring the call of the artist, he also honors the creative call that is upon all of us, upholds it, and recognizes that the children of God by nature create, but their awareness of this beauty is often truncated by self-deprecation and doubt. Sam manages to at once universalize the creative spirit and, at the same time, keep the integrity of the artist’s particular vocation.

Sam envisions what I would consider one of the more realistic hopes for the Church when it comes to its relationship to the arts.

you can read the entire review here. While you’re over there, check out his latest venture, At the Lord’s Table, a conversation with 54 authors, which is an impressive undertaking.

Jon Fulk recently interviewed me about my book. He asked me what inspired me to write the book…

This is a key concept in the book, and that moment largely shaped my thoughts about creating in response to beauty. I don’t go into this in the book, but the art piece I looked at was a huge Jackson Pollock painting, Mural, at the University of Iowa Museum of Art,and I was sitting in an Eames lounge chair. I’ve been captivated by both Pollock and the Eames lounge chair ever since. It may seem ridiculous, but…

You can read the full interview here.