“The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.” Pablo Picasso

An artist has the ability to take something ugly and turn it into a piece of beauty with his paintbrush.  An actor can take on another’s personality and create a believable character, but still bring something of himself into the role. A writer can create masterpieces with words and stir the imagination with the twist of his pen.   A musician can stir emotion with discordance or beautiful intonations.

We all have the potential to change lives – to change darkness into light – build bridges to wonderful unseen places.  It is part of the creative process that God has placed within each and everyone of us.  It’s what sets us apart from the animals.

We can determine the course of human events – even in a society that seems to be bent on killing each other.  We can focus on love rather than hate.  We can use our voices to change hearts.  We can use our art to let others know how we feel – what needs to be done – how to do it, but if we just sit there and expect it to happen, you can bet there will be no action.

Beauty will never completely inhabit our world, because it is wallowing in sin.  Christ came to take on the burden of that sin and pay the ransom for our souls.  He carried our guilt to the grave and rose again to foreshadow what would happen to His children after death.

We cannot make this world better – only God can do that.  We cannot remove the stain of sin – only God has already done that.  We cannot expect perfection in an imperfect world, but we can be assured that God is still in control and has a plan for us.

As we travel this life, we can choose to accept things as they are – do something about it – or trust that God will take care of it.  Sometimes we need to do all three things.  We are in this world for the short span of our lives.  Use the time to make something beautiful while you’re in it.