I Claim Your Power to Create

I've been pulling stuff out of storage recently and going thru each box, keeping some stuff and throwing some away. I came across a letter written to me back when I was preparing my thesis at seminary. In the letter, Ellen shared a poem with me that is quite good. It's by Ted Loder from the book "Guerillas of Grace." It's called...

I Claim Your Power to Create

O Ingenious One,
it is not only creation,
but creativity
that awes me.
It is a wonderous, fearsome thing
that you share your power to create.

O Mysterious One,
I shrink from your power,
yet I claim it;
and it is mine by your genious
or madness
this power to speak
and have light burst upon a mind
or darkness descend upon a heart;
this power to make music
to which souls dance
or armies march;
this power to mold and paint and carve
and so spin out the stars
by which I plot my course to heaven or to hell;
this power to hear and touch and taste
the love and truth
by which life itself is birthed and built,
or the hate and lies
by which it shrivels and dies.

O Daring One,
it is an awesome power you've shared;
and I rejoice in the artists
who dare to use their gift
to create the beauty which casts this world
into a more whole and holy dimension,
who dare to breathe visions and vibrations
into dullness,
as you breathed life into dust.

O Gracious One,
it is an awesome power you've shared;
and I honor your power
not only in pianist, poet and painter,
but in those whose encouragement ignites my heart,
whose laughter lights up a room,
whose touch fills the void,
whose integrity inpires my will,
whose commitment builds a church,
whose compassion builds community,
whose demands stretch my soul,
and whose love makes my day;
and I honor your power in those artists
of kitchen and office and shop,
and courtroom and classroom and sickroom;
in thos crazy people
who somehow know the world is always unfinished,
and who happily risk pushing and shoving
and tugging and pounding
and making love to it
until it and all of us
come out in a more glorious shape.

O Ingenious One,
it is not only creation,
but creativity
that awes me.
It is a wondrous,
fearsome thing
that you share your power to create.