He is the summation of every
creative power, principle, and pattern. It is in Him,
and through Him that all things come into existence.
Any who seek to be the builders and creators of society,
cannot afford to reject this, the chief cornerstone of
all creation, upon which, if men build, they cannot fall.
Truth
The second cornerstone of
creativity could be called Truth. There is a “law by
which all things are governed,”21 a framework
of eternal structures, and universal principles. These
are standards set in stone, absolute constants to guide
the creative person. They establish an ideal, a cornerstone
by which to measure, a standard by which to be measured.
Some would disagree. Some
would say there are no absolutes. There is no standard
in creativity. But, the very act of creativity presupposes
an aim, an ideal to strive for, a potential that has yet
to be achieved. Accomplishing your ambitions depends
upon your willingness and ability to conform your creativity
to the appropriate laws and framework of truth.
For example, language would
be stripped of its power if sentence structure were dissected
and the words were thrown together without composition.
We all know that to express deeper feelings of love to
your sweetheart, you must graduate from just incoherent
googling. Articulation empowers emotion. Why? Because
expressive and convincing communication entails the incorporation
of structure, form, and constant principles.
Truth, then, is the vehicle
for powerful expression and significant creativity.
This is what Marden J. Clark
calls “liberating form,” stating that those who create
too often “don't want to be bound by the shackles of form.
They want to soar wholly in the freedom of the creative
process. But very soon they find themselves caught in
one of the most profound paradoxes of creativity: that
the creative person is at once the most free and the most
bound of people, that his freedom can find meaningful
release, meaningful expression only in significant form.”22
So, whether it be artistic
forms in the humanities or the laws of science, those
who create must understand the governing principles of
their field. These principles will then be bridges to
higher ground.
Frequently, new ideas are
extensions of known things based on parallels and patterns.
One can predict the unknown if one can see patterns within
the known realm. A basic example would be numerical patterns.
Someone, being taught to count to twenty-two, could perceive
the numerical pattern, and by logical extension, continue
to ninety-nine with confidence.
Thus, foreknowledge is often
a function of being familiar with fundamentals. By this
principle of extended vision the brother of Jared could
not be kept from within the veil. Having seen first only
the finger of the Lord, the eye of faith was then opened
to look for the entire being of Jehovah. He needed that
catalyst to penetrate the veil.23
God often reveals only a
finger to the solution, and we are left to search out
its entirety by our knowledge of the anatomy of truth.
Building bridges is the first
step to forging frontiers. If you want to blaze new trails,
tread the true and proven paths first. Experience in
the light will give you instincts in the dark. An exhilarating
world of creativity will unfold as you begin to see the
existence of absolutes, common bonds, and universal truths
that underline the infinite variety in life.
Beauty
That brings us to the third
cornerstone of creativity: beauty. Understanding of the
nature of beauty will reveal the relationship between
the universal and the unique, between the constants of
eternity and the varieties of life. One must learn to
recognize individual variations as manifestations of universal
constants.
Those who are built upon
solid truth will be more assured and edified by those
infinite varieties; they will not lose their bearings
while searching the subtleties of beauty.
The relationship between
truth and beauty is like that between faith and hope.
Faith is seeing where Christ fits in. Hope is seeing yourself
in the equation. Beauty, then, is the cornerstone that
molds the ideal of the universal with the ideal of the
individual. The eye of faith sees the ideal, and the
eye of hope sees its connection to actual.
As a portrait artist paints
the face of some person, that painting will pass through
stages that might make the client cringe. But during
those ugly stages the artist must have always the vision
of its potential beauty, the hope of a potential masterpiece.
Only with the eye of optimism can the artist see his subject’s
true likeness beyond those crude brushstrokes. Finding
beauty is looking forward with a brightness of hope.
It is with such an eye that
God sees us. We are all works in progress. The creative
eye must see beyond the trappings of present appearance
and capacity, and see even as we are seen.
Michelangelo is often cited
as seeing his fully completed subject within a crude block
of marble. He said his work was simply to free it, to
cut away that which did not belong. His eye was not focused
on what was, but on what ought to be.
Creativity, then, is powered
by optimism, the ability to see the good, to see the potential.
This kind of optimism does not stoop to a debate of whether
the cup is half full or half empty, but steps up to maximize
the amount of water. The way of optimism is the way of
optimizing. It is the way of both ascertaining and accentuating
the beautiful.
Virtue
The fourth cornerstone is
virtue. This comprises more than what Milton called a
"fugitive and cloistered virtue." The ancient
meaning of the word captures its real value. It is that
life force that went out of Jesus at the touch of his
garment. It is a creative and healing energy. Virtue
is the life blood of the soul.
The Italian philosopher Lomazzo
believed that “[Beauty] represents itself to us with a
clarity corresponding to the degree to which we are purged
and chaste.” 24 Michelangelo himself said,
“It is not enough for a painter to be a master, great
and well-advised. But I hold that it is necessary for
him to be of a very good life — even saintly life, if
possible — so that the Holy Spirit may breathe upon his
intellect.” 25
Why do the creative need
God’s companionship? Because His promise is: “I
will bring the blind by
a way that they knew not;
I will lead them in paths
that they have not known:
I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake
them.”26
Retaining your virtue in
our modern world is like trying to keep your hair combed
in a windstorm. But we cannot weave our creative tapestry
with a tangled conscience. To reach the summit of our
personal potential, we must ascend to God as pure as we
left Him.
Stumbling Stones
In every
age there is a decisive hour, for every problem God sends
a gifted child. What purpose will your gifts serve during
these climactic hours of the latter days? Remember Esther,
of the Old Testament? Before she had fulfilled her historic
purpose, Mordecai asked her the penetrating question:
“Who knowethwhether thou art come to
the kingdom for such a time as
this?” 27
During some of Britain’s
darkest hours of World War II, Winston Churchill gave
the bold declaration, “To every man there comes… that
special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder
and offered the chance to do a special thing unique to
him and fitted to his talent. What a tragedy if that
moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the work
which would be his finest hour.” 28
All too many times we have
heard the stories of creative genius falling short of
its potential, of artists of promise living lives that
end in ignominy, of talent following along the seductive
course of arrogance and self-gratification, finding at
last that the end thereof affords only misery and failure.
They then have nothing to show for their God-given talent
but an empty mess of pottage.
No matter your gifts and
abilities, if you don’t build upon the proper cornerstones,
you will find stumbling stones in their place. So let
me mention a few stumbling stones common to the creative.
Pride and Selfishness
(Stumbling over Christ)
That first and foremost stumbling
stone — which always proceeds the fall — is pride. It
seems the closer one approaches success, the shorter the
path to pride. Those infected by the parasite of conceit
have a growing appetite for praise. They become so puffed
up with pride they no longer look honestly into the mirror
of self-criticism. Their only beacon becomes the limelight.
The applause of accomplishment will spur on precarious
posing and big-headed bowing.
And a top-heavy ego is easily
toppled — there is nothing to steady to the egocentric.
The plague of pride brings the vertigo of self-assurance
with the tide of fortune and the debilitating disease
of self-pity in the doldrums of disappointment. Truly,
to grow self-centered is to build upon the sand.
In your ascent towards your
aspirations, you will be short-changed, over-burdened,
underestimated. If you serve your ego you will be driven
by — and darkened by — resentment and defiance. To reach
for success with a closed fist is to trade your scepter
of righteousness for an axe to grind. You then carve
out a god after your own image to replace Christ as your
chief cornerstone. That which might have chiseled your
countenance after His perfect likeness — reproof and correction
— will become a rock of offense. You will set yourself
up as a light, but will mirror only the prince of darkness,
whose name, “Lucifer,” 29 becomes a dark irony
about those who do not reflect the True Light.
Spencer W. Kimball warns
“we must eliminate the individual tendency to selfishness
that snares the soul, shrinks the heart, and darkens the
mind.” 30 President Gordon B. Hinckley’s complimentary
counsel “Forget yourself and go to work” 31
is the most succinct reminder I know to keep your eye
single to the glory of God, that “thy whole body shall
be full of light.”32
False Ideas and Ignorance
(Stumbling over Truth)
The second stumbling stone
is that of false ideas and ignorance. Many stumble on
the cornerstone of truth because “there are many spirits
which are false spirits, which have gone forth in the
earth, deceiving the world. And also Satan hath sought
to deceive you, that he might overthrow you.”33
Sometimes the most scholarly
and skilled are the first to stumble because “when they
are learned they
think they are wise, and
they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set
it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore,
their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not.”
34 They are like those “who struggle and climb
and finally reach the top of the ladder, only to find
that it is leaning against the wrong wall.”35
To soar above the philosophical
pitfalls of our day, you need the wings of the Spirit.
A personal Liahona is a priceless asset in this day of
intellectual overgrowth and spiritual malnutrition. Thankfully,
God has prepared a way in the wilderness. He “shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought…and thou
shalt be like a watered garden…whose
waters fail not.” 36
But where much in given,
often much is taken for granted. Yes, God “giveth to
all men liberally,”37 but we must also remember
that “he shall reward
every man according
to his works.” 38
Too much grace, and who would
do any works?
I may have divine promises.
But I won’t be an Olympic athlete by simply saying my
prayers and paying my tithing… I have to my push-ups,
as well, for “when we obtain any blessing from God, it
is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.”39
We must recognize the laws
upon which the blessings we seek are predicated. For example,
the blessing of a muscular physique is not predicated
upon obedience to gravity. Muscles are gained by obedience
to laws of resistance and endurance.
There is no substitute for
good hard work! Countless are the failures of men like
Newton, Einstein, Edison, Ford, Lincoln, and so many others.
Where would we be if Joseph Smith had given in to the
darkness before the first vision, or had given up on obtaining
the plates after being rebuked by the angel Moroni, or
had not regained his gift after losing the first 116 pages
of the Book of Mormon? Tenacity is the twin sister to
creativity.
Some of the hardest roads
must be walked alone. Great artists and thinkers tend
to live secluded lives. But this is dangerous and can
be carried too far. The recluse quickly loses perspective.
Isolationism is a self-inflicted ignorance. It is a cutting
off of that which could edify and enrich. There is a
need for focus, a need to shut out the noise of life,
a need for reflection and deliberation. But insightful
views come not just from focus, but from broad vision.
As the great scientist Niels Bohr often said, “Clarity
is gained through breadth.”40
Often answers to difficult
questions come in unexpected places. Perhaps the reason
they are difficult is because the answers are not to be
found right before you. Let God lead you along in a balanced,
fruitful life, and He will provide the ram in the thicket
when and where you least expect it.
Fear and Pessimism (Stumbling
over Beauty)
The third stumbling stone
is that of fear and pessimism. With all her many faces,
fear suffocates faith and blinds the eye to beauty. Fear
has many children: doubt, skepticism, cynicism, suspicion,
accusation. She is an epidemic of the modern world. These
are indeed devilish days, for “Devil” in Greek means:
the slanderer or the accuser. His is the eye that looks
only for the ugly.
In the parable of the talents,
we see that the fear of the unfaithful servant who buried
his one talent came because of his criticism and distrust
of his master. His critical feelings were his creative
folly.
If you remember nothing else
today, remember this: pessimism undermines creativity.
Pessimism is a parasite that not only saps the strength
of the ambitious, but diverts the eye that looks forward
with faith.
Remember this counsel from
the prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley:
William Shakespeare penned:
“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we
oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”42 Our
lot in life may be hard, but we can “plow in hope.”43
We can be happy and confident, even amidst opposition
and discouraging voices.
Sin (Stumbling over Virtue)
But the strongest kind of
confidence will escape us if we have forsaken the cornerstone
of virtue. This brings me to the last stumbling stone
that I will mention: sin. It is both a burden and a blinder.
Struggling with this stumbling stone is like taking the
leap of faith with a millstone around your neck and finding
your footing with a mote in your eye. You may venture
out on your creative journey, but your mountains will
seem higher and the veil thicker.
We are so dependant on our
spiritual faculties, we cannot afford to let them be polluted.
If the heavens withdraw themselves we risk the creative
person’s greatest dread: a stupor of thought. We would
become blind to that which inspires, numb to that which
edifies. Unresolved guilt handicaps our spirit and our
highest sensations then become emotional, or carnal. We
cannot afford to become carnal creatures, for “that which is born of
the flesh is
flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”44
Be very protective of your
mind, for that is your well of ideas. Exposing it to filth
is like drinking from a horse trough. You must live by
higher laws than the beasts. As Albert
Einstein put it:
It is essential that the
student acquire an understanding of and a lively feeling
for values. [You] must acquire a vivid sense of the beautiful
and of the morally good. Otherwise [you]—with [your] specialized
knowledge— more closely resemble a well-trained dog than
a harmoniously developed person. 45
Conclusion
As children of God, we must
seek always to become as He is. We depend upon Him for
every dimension of faith, hope, and charity, of truth,
beauty, and virtue. William Adolph Bouguereau once observed, “There’s nothing noble in human nature
when it doesn’t strive towards its Creator.” 46
In this quest, we must “go out in the darkness and put
[our] hand in the hand of God: That will be better than
a light, and safer than a known way.”47 And
it is the only way to create on a sure foundation.
Christ is indeed the guiding
light in all creativity. “He discovereth
deep things out of darkness,
and bringeth out to
light the shadow of death.”
48 In the highest form of creativity, He creates
creators. No one has inspired more music, more art, more
masterpieces, more devotion than our Lord and Savior.
He is the master creator, the pattern of perfection in
all things, the beacon for every groping pioneer, the
strength for every tired laborer, the inspiration in every
creative power, the healer of every destructive power.
Jesus Christ is the author and the finisher of every masterpiece,
and of every master. He is the Lord of lords, the King
of kings. He is the Master of masters, the Creator of
creators.
May we be wise and faithful
servants, and with all He has bestowed upon us, even with
all our souls, may we magnify the Lord “till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” 49 That is our greatest creative endeavor.
Footnotes
19. Doctrine & Covenants
88:7, 11
20. Moses 6:63
21. Doctrine & Covenants
88:l3
22. Marden J. Clark, “Liberating
Form,” BYU Studies, vol. 15 (1974-75) Number 1-
Autumn 1974
23. Ether 12:21
24. Robert J. Clements, Michelangelo’s
Theory of Art, p.87
25. Ibid., p.19
26. Isaiah 42:16
27. Esther 4:14
28. Quoted by Jeffery R.
Holland, Ensign, Nov. 2000, p. 40
29. Lucifer means “light
bearer” in Latin.
30. Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign,
May 1978, p. 81
31. Quoted in LDS Church
News, Sept. 9, 1995
32. Matthew 6:22
33. Doctrine & Covenants
50:2-3
34. 2 Nephi 9:28
35. Quoted by Boyd K. Packer,
BYU Fireside Address, Feb. l, 1976
36. Isaiah 58:11
37. James 1:5
38. Matthew 16:27
39. Doctrine & Covenants
130:21
40. Quoted in Heisenberg,
Physics and Beyond, p. 276
41. "The Continuing
Pursuit of Truth," Ensign, April 1986, pp.
2, 4.
42. Quoted in Monson, Favorite
Quotations from the collection of Thomas S. Monson,
p. 93
43. I Corinthians 9:10
44. John 3:6
45. Lloyd D. Newell, Divine
Connection: Understanding Your Inherent Worth, p.
32
46. William Adolph Bouguereau,
exhibition catalogue, Wadsworth Athenian, The Montreal
Museum of Fine Arts, Musee du Petit-Palais , Paris , 1984,
p.42
47. Louise Haskins, quoted
in Monson, Live the Good Life, p. 93
48. Job 12:22
49. Ephesians 4:13
