Beloved Artist, We Need You Now
Beloved Artist, We Need You Now
The Covid-19 pandemic is the first time I have experienced something identical and simultaneous with my Christian brothers and sisters around the world. We’ve had real-time, common experiences with quarantines, church closings, financial losses, and masks. Together we have faced the challenges of isolation and the loss of in-person spiritual community. Our livelihoods have faced challenges that impact our well-being. We have seen people in our midst die from this virus. And now, we wear masks to protect ourselves and others, and while doing so, our smiles are hidden and our voices muffled.
Pandemic problems around the world have caused our souls to grieve a life we once knew and put fear in our hearts that we may never get it back. Older people in every country don’t want the end of their life to look like this. Younger people in every part of the world are having trouble envisioning their futures.
And then, in the United States where many of us reside, on top of the pandemic, pour on fires, hurricanes, crimes of injustice, and a political season like none we have seen. We find ourselves discouraged and struggling. People we love have lost their life to the virus, others have lost their home, communities struggle to make changes, and families are divided over an election. We wonder, how will we make it through all this?
Beloved artist, we need you now.
We need you on the front lines of the battles where we find ourselves. We believe you are the ones who can truly help.
Whether with written or spoken words, rich melodies, gentle sketches, moving photos, acted stories, or paintings with strong, bold strokes…whatever you, as one created in the image of the Creator creates, we’re asking you to create it now.
Some would say that creativity is impractical and abstract only - and they would be wrong. The gift that you have is a necessity to humankind and critical to the flourishing of the human spirit. Creativity in its finest form does not exist for its own sake; creativity is at its best when it is giving to others. Creativity that contributes is powerful.
In the beginning you may have found the quarantine provided time for making things, but now you may be weary of the ups and downs of pandemic life, experiencing even a creative fatigue. It is completely understandable. Yet, now is not the time to be weary. Now is the time to dig deep, be vulnerable. Now is the time to create.
The mask covers our mouth, but it doesn’t cover our eyes. People can still see what you make. The mask doesn’t cover our ears. People can still hear you. Ask God how He desires to pour through you: please, create. Create to communicate His heart to so many of us in need of so much.
Create to comfort. Who knows how to be in the moment more than an artistic soul? No one. Look around you. People need peace of all sorts. There has been turmoil, loss, and grief. People are worried and fearful. What can you create, what can you offer as a gift of peace for a soul in need of it?
Create to encourage. You are a curator and purveyor of inspiration. We are in need of a positive outlook; we need to know there will be a brighter future. Can you create something that encourages our hearts toward hope and joy?
Create to awaken. The shock of the pandemic alerted us to things we were taking for granted. At the same time, the sheer ongoing length of it has already lulled us into a stupor of sorts. We need an awakening in our spirits to God and the things that matter most. Where there has been slumber we need fresh new understandings. Will you share the gift within you that can remind us that God does and will make all things new?
Create to unite. You are comfortable with a messy process. You know that it is worth stepping into the unknown, trusting something good will come from it. You understand taking a risk into chaos and seeing a focus emerge. Will you create common ground with something beautiful that connects people with each other, highlighting God’s presence in their midst?
We hope you, as one who has the ability to wonder and love, will consider our request.
Beloved Artist, we need you now. Please, bring us some light.