Wisdom Creates

I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,

And find out knowledge and discretion …

The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,

Before His works of old …

When he prepared the heavens, I was there …

When He marked out the foundations of the earth,

Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman

Proverbs 8:12, 22, 27, 29, 30

The Queen of Sheba sought out King Solomon for his great wisdom. Wisdom is not only a godly quality, but also a creative tool. Wisdom conceives what is yet to be and brings it forth. Yet wisdom not only creates, but also builds up. Just think of Solomon. The first thing which consumed his thoughts when he assumed kingship was the building of a temple for God. Metaphorically speaking, just like any building project, the creative process has a beginning, middle and end – a starting point, mid-travel route, and a destination. So exploring creativity is essentially a journey of sorts.

At its very core, I might add, true wisdom is defined by both creativity and nobility of purpose. What I create should be useful and ultimately beneficial or edifying. Also when we consider the minute precision with which God designed the natural world – the lined patterns of a leaf, the artistry of a flower, the bright plumage of a bird – we understand that creativity is also about detail. So wisdom carefully and precisely designs what is good, noble, and of beneficial use all within a high sense of aesthetics.

Poetry is a wonderful example of what a creative process – a journey - is like. Of course, the principles described above could apply to any creative work, but I’ll stick with what I’m familiar with and what I’m passionate about, which is (blow bugle) … poetry! I’ll just briefly share what my creative process was like for Solomon’s Treasure, so that you can enjoy ‘seeing’ creativity at work and decide if it won’t also work for you.

Solomon’s Treasure

Solomon’s Treasure was written in 2001 when my church launched private websites where members could post their thoughts about teachings, our personal process or just about anything relevant or topical. I had not written any poetry since high school, but I decided to write Solomon’s Treasure after reading a beautiful poem written by our pastor’s daughter, Nicola. Out of my imagination and some very deliberate idea sketching, I decided to write something about my favourite Bible characters through the voice of Solomon.

I worked out what characters I was going to focus on – Abraham, Jacob, Ruth and David – and placed them in chronological order as they appear in the Bible. I then sat down and started writing. If I remember correctly, I jotted it down on paper first and then re-typed it on our computer. It didn’t take long to write my basic initial draft, which showed some definite promise.

 

Once I completed my first draft, my sister (Karla) read it over and offered a suggestion for changing the line about Jacob from “There was Jacob …” to “Enter Jacob ...”. That teeny change made a huge difference, adding a sense of drama to that particular line, and to the introductory part of my description of Jacob. My poetry mentor at the time (Pat) also read the poem. She encouraged me to keep on writing, expressing real delight with what I had written, and then she too suggested editorial changes. “Why do you say that David didn’t hold back an “ounce.”? That’s not true Bible language so it doesn’t really fit.” In the end I changed, “Not an ounce did he withhold” to “Not a dram did he withhold.”

About a year later, I sent a whole pile of my poems to Dr. P. Morgan – a professor at UWI (The University of the West Indies) – for her professional feedback. She, too, while very encouraging, also made a few key suggestions. She explained that my verses should really be of even length (which they weren’t at the time), that my rhyme scheme and rhythm should remain consistent unless I wanted to mark a change or turning point in the piece, and that diction (choosing appropriate words whose meaning fit exactly) was very important; based on which, I made some major changes to the poem, adding one or two verses, changing quite a few lines, and adding the introductory verse which describes the queen setting off on her journey.

So, in this particular poem, my creative process was very much a shared process where I had some significant input (and encouragement) from other people who know a thing or two about poetry. It was also a piece of writing inspired wholly by my imagination. That is no longer the case with many of my poems. I still write poems out of my own deliberate planning and thinking, but since 2002, and especially since 2004 or 2005, I am often inspired by thoughts which come directly from God. Sometimes I ‘see’ or sense images which I interpret and string into poems. Sometimes I hear one or two lines playing in my head and, again, string them out into a poem. Sometimes, I ‘see’ animated images which I try to capture in verse.

I always pay careful attention to my wording, often keeping the thesaurus of dictionary.com very handy. If a word doesn’t seem to fit even by a millimetre I try to find something that would be a pluck-fit! Sometimes I make up words or coin phrases just to say exactly what I want to say. The more I write and practise, the more this comes naturally because I know what I can get away with and what I can’t. In selecting just the right word, I also consider the consistency of the rhyme scheme (if there is one … not all poetry rhymes) and (Dr. Morgan would be proud) diction.

I don’t really consider a poem complete until it’s absolutely perfect. I tweak and tweak until it is, sometimes going through as many as twenty-something drafts. On the occasion, as the proverbial image goes, lots of crumpled ‘paper’ gets chucked in the waste basket. So while poems may be short, and they may sometimes look as if they took very little effort (and sometimes they really do flow very easily … but then again, sometimes they don’t), they actually require a lot of skill, patience, persistence, taste and craftsmanship because writing a poem is way more than just making words rhyme.

 

I love writing poetry and I love being creative, which is a gift from God. God created a beautiful planet with a special design defining everything that He has made. God created me and you. He took great care and crafted in surgical detail to make the unique you and me that we are. He designed us with nobility and beauty in mind because we are meant to be a gift to others. He also gifts each one of us with some form of creativity whether as scientists, administrators, artists, medical practitioners or whatever we may be. Creativity is part of the beauty of reflecting who God is. Discovering the gift of creativity which God has crafted into each one of us is a personal journey as unique as you or I. Seeking out the God who generously bestows these gifts is a worthy quest – an adventure unlike any other!