In a community where people don't have much to their name, don't have many possessions, or aren't defined by what they "do", they have an incredible sense of value of human life. Every person in a family matters - not by what they have or do, but simply because of who they are.
Each person is valuable because of what each person brings to the world - by simply being themselves.
Isn't it striking how the opposite is true for most of our culture?
We artists can be among those who fall into this trap most often. We tend to define our artistic gifts as what we bring to the world sole. We place a great deal of merit in our abilities to "do".
You know what I mean. A stranger asks about your work. "Oh, I'm a (fill the blank here). Artist. Photographer. Graphic Designer. Painter. Journalist. Etc. It becomes the first thing you describe of yourself. It becomes that wardrobe you don every morning before stepping out the door. It becomes the glasses through which you see the world.
"Artist" all too easily becomes our identity. In our mind, it becomes the all encompassing description of what we bring to the world.
But friends, this is simply not true.
What we bring to the world is not what we "do". We are n.o.t. our work. We are not our abilities. We are not our gifts. These things are only elements of our identity - only parts of the whole.
In fact, we are n.o.t. our art.
What we bring to the world is simple: Ourselves.
If you were paralyzed in a hospital bed, unable to take pictures or draw, or use a computer, or pick up a paintbrush; if you had no external outlet of "doing", what would you still bring to the world?
As scary as this setting may sound, the things you discover about yourself in this imaginary environment are the most important elements you bring to the world: Your smile. Your heart. Your expressions. Your words. Your touch. Your gaze. Your laugh. Your dreams. Your perspective.
In our world, so much worth is valued by "what we do". As artists we get caught in this trap, defining ourselves and our merit in "what we do" as artists, or "who we are" as artists, or "what we create" as artists. But the truth is this: if we can capitalize on the understanding that what we bring to the world is o.u.r.s.e.l.v.e.s. filtered through the love of God, we will fulfill our role here on earth; for that is something no one else can fulfill for us.
Today, heed this challenge. Don't dress up in the "artists" garb before heading out the door. Don't step into the world with your camera or pen or laptop being the first things that others see. Fulfill your calling by filtering your gifts through the love of God and being the person He has called you to be.
The world will miss out if you don't.
[This post is the fourth in a series of weekly posts designed to inspire and challenge through the stories and thoughts from theRevolutionary Mediabook, "Dear World".Dear World is available for purchase through Blurb, and in November 2009 will be available for digital download by donation.]
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