A Sinful Artist’s Prayer for Creativity

A Sinful Artist’s Prayer for Creativity

by Jem De Ocampo

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We sinful humans have the power to create, but not as powerfully as You do, dear God the Creator. We can impress our fellow humans with the creative powers You gave us, but they are nothing if they do not honor You. We can claim to be original, but even our supposed originals can be traced back to lines and lines of sources that ultimately lead back to You. We can claim to be extraordinary, but these images we make come from ordinary things. Whatever real advancements we’ve made are already things You know everything about and always do way better at, with our learning of them being our reception of powers You entrusted to us Your Creation for Your glory. The beauty of Your work always shines, whether or not the spotlights of popular perception are focused on it. And the good in how images only show slivers of the reality they represent is in how they can remind us about how essential having faith is in our quest to make sense out of life. There is meaning in each and every speck of Your Creation, and we need to believe in You first, loving God who loved us first, for all these specks to be truly worthwhile. You are everywhere, and we Your adopted children have so many opportunities to be holy in reality. Thank You very much for showing that through the life You lived here on earth as well, with things like Your parables being in touch with when and where You lived while always being ahead of us sinful humans.

Give us a good sense of reality, then, God Almighty. Do not let us dismiss this world You created, even its smallest pieces, and do not let us abuse Your Creation, especially its biggest parts. Do not let us take our everyday lives for granted, for they make the greatest treasures, and do not let us disregard special moments, for they help us remember the little things that are essential to our lives. Do not let us be confined to our own views, for no human is meant to be alone, and do not let conflict tear us away from You, for glorious peace with You is what we are born for. Help us appreciate where we came from, and help us shape what You entrusted to us into forms that further dignify us and glorify You. And please use our creations for Your glory, God Almighty. Please use the ones You consider worthy, and please keep on guiding us towards being worthier for You.

And Mother Mary, Strongest Woman, please pray for us. You are the subject of many a religious image with God Almighty, yet on earth, you lived more like an ordinary person we sinful humans would easily ignore. With the Communion of Saints, please pray for us to be humble as well, so that we may find more of the wonderful things that God has in store for us.

So this prayer goes in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

Amen.