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Gretchen Mure Rodriguez

Authentic Artistic Expression

Writing is like dancing with my fingers. In dance, my body alone conveys the deepest stirrings of my being. In writing I transfer the movements of both my heart and my body to paper.

Whether we are writers, dancers, musicians, singers, painters, sculptures, photographers, etc., each of us carry an expression of God's heart which He asks us to unveil to the world. (Obviously, there are many more ways of releasing His heart than the arts, but this is the subject for today.)

The more time I spend in God's presence, the more of Him I want to release. I  used to think that unless large numbers of people viewed my work, it was a waste of time. Now I realize it's about so much more. It is about being faithful to who we are and honoring the One who gave us these gifts. I'm reminded of the story of the talents in the Bible - even if our gift is small, we mustn't hide it. 

We are called to release what is inside of us - whether to five or to five million, isn't the issue. Whatever articulation of beauty God wants to release through us, we have to trust He will bring the people He wants to convey it to. I think sometimes in our effort to either hide our gift or to gather supporters, we forget that there is a reason we express ourselves the way we do. God wants out! He wants to present to the world that part of Himself that He has so carefully placed inside of us. It is also the reason we cannot compare ourselves to others.

As artists we sometimes feel that unless society validates us, our gift isn't special. Of course our gifts are special - they are the breath of God within us! What matters is that we remain honest, unhindered, authentic, and humble in our expression, and be faithful to give it away. 

Today I pray that you will not only be unhindered in your expression, but that you will remember Who it is that you release through it.
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