Big Magic: Courage

“Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you?

Look, I don’t know what’s hidden within you. I have no way of knowing such a thing. You yourself may barely know, although I suspect you’ve caught glimpses. I don’t know your capacities, your aspirations, your longings, your secret talents. But surely something wonderful is sheltered inside you. I say this with all confidence, because I happen to believe we are all walking repositories of buried treasure. I believe this is one of the oldest and most generous tricks the universe plays on us human beings, both for its own amusement and for ours: The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them.

The hunt to uncover those jewels—that’s creative living. The courage to go on that hunt in the first place—that’s what separates a mundane existence from a more enchanted one.” -Liz Gilbert, Big Magic

Scripture: John 2: 1-11

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. - John 2: 1-11

Big Magic Takes Courage

By Rev. Debra McKnight

You may know this scripture, it’s Jesus’ big debut, his first act of public ministry in the Gospel of John. His first big moment isn’t feeding the multitudes or healing someone or helping a man see or a woman walk upright; its making wine for a party. That’s right he is making wine for a party and he didn’t really want too. Its is a moment where his Mom had to nudge him, perhaps with an epic look to do the work she knew he could do. It is this strange and sweet creative moment…and he didn’t want to do it. I get that, most of us are shy about our gifts, creativity requires courage.

When we talk about creativity…we think first of poets and painters, the movement of music or dance or pretty much anything that is artsy. But this conversation about creativity isn’t an invitation for graphic designers to join in while accountants and attorneys sit it out or just skip to the next blog. It is for all of us. Creating is a part of life’s work. Your canvas might be a spreadsheet or a legal brief. Your tool might be a stethoscope, a calculator, an espresso machine or your own listening ear. Your masterpiece might be a new HR manual, a coaching session or a classroom of kids who help their friends. We are creative and we are all called to share the rich gifts seeded within, regardless of how terrifying such vulnerability might be.

We have a history of professionalizing creativity. Go into any kindergarten classroom and ask. “Who is an artist?” And a sea of hands will shoot up with relentless enthusiasm. But by the time we graduate high school, only a handful of artists remain. Some of us go on to college and declare a major and that means some folks are really artist…with juried shows and diplomas to prove it and the rest of us well…we might be cutting it up in the zoology lab but we are no artist. Artists are the ones who can paint and draw and sing and write songs and sculpt and speak in iambic pentameter. Right? Well I want us to connect with our five year old courage to create and do and try…even if we don’t have a frame to prove we are artist. This is an invitation for us all to play with the paint, draw, doodle and write the words of our heart….just to do it. Even if for a moment to practice listening to the pulse of our creative hearts.

I believe Liz Gilbert talks about the creativity the way faithful folks talk about God. Our tradition invites us to listen to the spirit’s nudges or perhaps shouts depending on how loud She has to be to get our attention. And in these rare moments when we listen, we join Moses and Miriam and Mary and Peter and Lydia and Paul and everyone else who took the risk to bring something new out into the world.

Gilbert invites us to think of the possibilities that are buried within us, like treasure, and how the universe wants to co-create and partner with us. It is a beautiful way to ponder our partnership something larger than ourselves, Love Divine and a presence that values what is within us, longing to work with us to bring it out. Creativity invites delight and meaning and wholeness but it requires risk.

This is terrifying because most of the time we are afraid.

Afraid of making a mistake, afraid of bullies, afraid of internet trolls,

afraid of not being smart enough or good enough or enough enough;

afraid of failure, afraid it won’t work or we can’t afford it,

afraid no one will notice us,

afraid we will be bruised or fall down and not get back up,

afraid someone will tell us we can’t or shouldn’t or are actually terrible at that work we love.

Maybe you went to the chalk board in school and still remember the panic of trying to finish a math problem, maybe you choked at the spelling bee or the school musical, maybe the pressure is to much or the risk seems bigger than Mount Everest.

The thing Gilbert so directly names is that FEAR is BORING. We all have it, and there is nothing compelling about fear. Fear is a part of us, our instincts, our guts, our brains are wired to protect us, and so she reminds us there is some fear we need and some we don’t, some fears that hamper our curiosity.

“The truth is, you need your fear, for obvious reasons of basic survival. Evolution did well to install a fear reflex within you, because if you didn’t have any fear, you would lead a short, crazy, stupid life. You would walk into traffic. You would drift off into the woods and be eaten by bears. You would jump into giant waves off the coast of Hawaii, despite being a poor swimmer. You would marry a guy who said on the first date, “I don’t necessarily believe people were designed by nature to be monogamous.” So, yes, you absolutely do need your fear, in order to protect you from actual dangers like the ones I’ve listed above. But you do not need your fear in the realm of creative expression. Seriously, you don’t.” -Liz Gilbert

It’s harnessing our fears, practicing courage and being brave. But before you paint your face blue and start giving yourself the pep talk from Braveheart, Gilbert reminds us, “Creativity is a path for the brave, yes, but it is not a path for the fearless, and it’s important to recognize the distinction. Bravery means doing something scary. Fearlessness means not even understanding what the word scary means.” So she does this amazing thing; imagining a road trip. She and Creativity are going on a journey and they lay down the rules for the road trip with Fear. Fear is going but Fear doesn’t get to navigate or even touch the radio. It is the amazing metaphor that I think, no matter our canvas or craft we can all employ. Especially if you don’t have your Mom there to say, “You can do it.”

Jesus has his Mom in this first moment and maybe that practice started before the narrative we can read. He is at a wedding when the wine runs out. It’s kind of a big deal to run out of wine at what might be a week long party and so Mary knows Jesus can help. But he doesn’t want to, “My time has not yet come.” Maybe he is not ready, maybe he didn’t really want to go to the wedding party in the first place, maybe he doesn’t want to start his public ministry…maybe he is afraid. Mary seeks his help at the wedding and he responds, “Woman what concern is that to you and me?” Mary doesn’t even say anything to him, at least not in words…one look and then she tells the servants do whatever Jesus says. They do and the steward (whom I like to imagine as a fabulous wedding planner) is amazed at this vintage. They have saved the good wine for last, they have offered abundance when others would offer something less.

Some modern Christians look at this story to say that Jesus blesses weddings and conveniently they say it’s heterosexual weddings between one man and one woman. But we don’t really know much about this wedding, is it a man and woman who love each other, is it a man and his new third wife, is it some arrangement of loving partners or is it something that looks more like an exchange of property. My earliest memories of this passages aren’t about weddings but about wine. FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) leaders were pretty clear that consuming wine, like all alcohol, was a sin and a big one. But when Jesus turns water into wine…they did not see this as space to explore moderation but rather did some mental gymnastics and suggested wine was really safer than water at the time, like Jesus is doing the work of a Brita Water Filter. Which he is not.

The truth is this isn’t really about weddings or wine or mid-century American morals. It’s about Jesus finding the treasure of his people and lifting it up for everyone to see and taste and feel. Wine holds this sacred place of delight and abundance and well-being in the stories he grew up hearing. And in Isaiah, as in other prophets when there is grief and brokenness and destruction the poets and the prophets name it. There is no wine, there is no music, there is no joy and no delight. They write that folks may drink but it is bitter. Isaiah 25 invites these folks who worry, surrounded by threat and force, longing for the vineyards and the fields to flourish once more to imagine God’s big table. God sets a table and there is the best food, it is rich and fatty and filling and the wine is the best vintage you could imagine. God sets a table and there is no head of the table for the really important people, who get the best food, first and on the prettiest plates. No everyone gets the good wine and the good food and just as the meal is about to start God swallows up the shroud of death. God swallows up grief and weeping and brokenness. And then the feasting never stops.

Jesus knows his people and he knows himself. And thanks to his Mom, he has the courage to create a moment that is all about abundance. Just when it seemed the wine was gone and everyone should go home, the best wine comes out. The party isn’t over. The dance isn’t done. The cups runneth over. Creativity and abundance find away. Jesus reminds these nobodies in Galilee of the big feast we are all invited too. This is a moment that reminds us all we are created in the image of this life-giving table setting God. And She, like Mary might be telling us to dig deep, buckle-up and take a road trip. They might be whispering, ‘take courage’ or ‘be not afraid.’ He might invite us to remember our dreams or listen for the next steps.

May it be so. Amen.