Creativity

Playing in the Wild Garden of Childhood

Steve · January 25, 2019 · 12 Comments

FOD BAll — At the "Field of Dreams," Dyersville, Iowa. SJG photo.

I recently came across this line of poetry from the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda: “Everything is ceremony in the wild garden of childhood.” And, of course, that’s right.

Take, for example, the pick-up games of some variation of baseball (fuzz ball, Indian ball, Wiffle® ball, cork ball, kickball, step ball) of my childhood in North St. Louis in the early ‘70s. These were “wild gardens” in the very best sense, meaning they required no adults, no official field dimensions, no uniforms and very few rules, other than the ever-evolving ones that existed only in our collective consciousness as 12-year-olds.

Appreciating the Small and the Now

Steve · September 29, 2018 · 9 Comments

“The little things? The little moments? They aren’t little.”
– Jon Kabat-Zinn

When I was a young man, I think I lived day to day waiting for the “big thing” to happen. I raced to the mailbox at the end of the day (imagine relying on such an antiquated source of information and news!) to see what it might hold for me that might change my life — a letter from an editor wanting to publish something I’d written or a breakthrough song, perhaps, one great hit to be recorded by the likes of Garth Brooks or Tricia Yearwood.

Hakarat Hatov: Recognizing the Good

Steve · July 28, 2018 · 6 Comments

Jon and Jess Givens in Nicaragua. SJG photo.

“In a time of destruction, create something: a poem, a parade, a community, a school, a vow, a moral principle; one peaceful moment.” – Maxine Hong Kingston

“When in doubt, do something.” – Harry Chapin

About a month ago, I had the great pleasure of being present at an event sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council in St. Louis, at which my close university colleague Cheryl received an award for her years of service, wisdom and dedication, not only to the Jewish community but to the entire community. During the ceremony, one of the speakers spoke of “Hakarat Hatov,” a Hebrew term for gratitude. It literally means, I came to learn, “recognizing the good.” And I thought to myself, that’s a pretty good place to begin.

We live in unsettled, dangerous, destructive, confusing times, and it would be easy to allow our only response to be one of resignation, of saying to ourselves and to the rest of the world, “I give up. It’s just too big. It’s just too destructive. I have nothing to offer that will make a difference.”

But such a response is lazy and not a response of faith. A response of faith allows us (perhaps propels us) to roll up our sleeves and, as Maxine Hong Kingston writes above, do something creative. Or, as I learned from listening to my musical and social justice hero Harry Chapin many years ago, “When in doubt, do something.”

The Creative Spirit: The Human Necessity of ‘Being Moved’

Steve · August 27, 2017 · 8 Comments

Over the past week, I have been reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I’ve seen the B movies and a very good theatrical version years ago at the St. Louis Repertory Theatre, but I’ve never read the book. It was assigned reading this year for all the first-year students at the university where I work, so I thought I would join the throng of readers.

We all read books, poems and sacred texts with different mindsets and personal histories, of course, so these words purposefully and creatively strung together by the authors affect each person differently. As regular readers of my blog no doubt know, I write often on the idea of paying attention to the world around us, of leaving ourselves open to being moved by the things in our lives and, ultimately, by the looming presence of God. So I was delighted to read this passage below, spoken by Dr. Frankenstein about his hike through the woods and mountains, during which he observed the desolation after an avalanche, dangerous and deep ravines, “somber” pines, the distant valley with mist rising off the river and the mountain summits shrouded in clouds. In short, he was paying attention and was deeply aware of the human necessity of being moved. He says:

Today’s Word: Discovery

Steve · June 26, 2017 · 5 Comments

1903 Wright Brothers Flyer, Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. SJG photo.

“Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love. Then for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

This past weekend, Sue and I visited Washington, D.C., taking in some of the sights and museums. I usually enjoy just about any kind of museum, but I am often drawn to history and science museums because they present the discoveries and innovations of the world in such a graphic and accessible way. And whether some man or woman of the past conquered flight or disease, whether he or she discovered a new way of seeing the world, governing its people, harnessing the power of its natural resources or uncovering its ancient past to better understand our present, a museum gives us in a snapshot what a good book does in more depth over hundreds of pages. Both are important, of course, but a museum has the opportunity to grab our attention and nudge us toward the deeper end of knowledge. What we see in an exhibit can and should lead us to read, to research, to create, to think deeply and share with others.