The Artist's Way: Week Six, Post One

Week Six is about “recovering a sense of abundance” and Julia starts this chapter by talking about God and money.


To be honest, I’ve never really thought about God and money, except for the law of tithing. And it never occurred to me to think of it in terms of abundance (probably because I have very limited experience with financial abundance in my life).

I completely identified with this: “Maybe God would feed and clothe us, in a pinch, but painting supplies? A museum tour of Europe, dance classes? God’s not about to spring for those, we tell ourselves” (p. 106).

This is exactly how I see things.

Julia continues, “Most of us harbor a secret belief that work has to be work and not play, and that anything we really want to do—like write, act, dance—must be considered frivolous and be placed a distant second” (p. 106).

Yep, and yep. Exactly what I believe.

And then I read something that really shifted the way I view God. Seriously.

“On the one hand, we give lip service to the notion that God wants us to be happy, joyous, and free. On the other, we secretly think that God wants us to be broke if we are going to be so decadent as to want to be artists. Do we have any proof at all for these ideas about God? Looking at god’s creation, it is pretty clear that the creator itself did not know when to stop. There is not one pink flower, or even fifty pink flowers, but hundreds. Snowflakes, of course, are the ultimate exercise in sheer creative glee. No two alike. This creator looks suspiciously like someone who just might send us support for our creative ventures” (pgs. 106-107, emphasis added).

Wow, right?

So, let me ask you, if you could do anything creative, and I mean ANYTHING, and knew you would have the full support and assistance from God, what would you do?

It’s an exciting thought, isn’t it?



UP NEXT: Luxury, and how we need more of it!