Allen Arnold

I like creating. Specifically I like creating stories with words, and pictures with colors. I create on the computer. And I wish I could sell what I’ve created. But why?

I believe with Allen Arnold, author of The Story Of With, that creativity is a God-given gift, and that God wants me to create. I agree with the author that my best creativity is achieved when I work “with” God. And I agree that God’s purpose was not to make me successful, but to draw me closer to Him. But I would so love to be successful.

The Story Of With includes an allegorical tale, much in the style of C.S. Lewis, of a young woman whose creativity hits an all-time low after the loss of her job. A hero’s journey follows where the protagonist, lost on a lonely road, gets to choose if she’ll take a chance on a side trek or follow the uninspiring certainties of a garage with gas to a slow trek back to her car with nothing changed. The side road leads to mystery and revelation - most delightfully to the idea that a broken bottle, as drawn on the cover of the book, can be more beautiful than the original if mended with gold.

So what have I learned? To stay expectant, but not let the world so define what I’m expecting that I can’t see what I’m offered. To know the joy of creating in God’s company, and see myself as a child of God. And to delight in the doing, not the producing. (But I still wish I could sell!)

I enjoyed the book. The allegory had me wondering at several points which direction it would take. And the lessons are wise.

Disclosure: A friend loaned me this book.… (mais)