JIP April Newsletter

What is the place of creativity in the Johnson Intern Program? I had to think on this question. We talk so much about spirituality and call, about vocation and leadership and community. This isn't an art program...so where do we find creativity, and what does it have to do with us?

The root word in creativity is, of course, create. In the beginning God created....us! And what are we called to do but to create? By coming here our interns have indicated that they want to create lives that are out of the ordinary; lives that not only serve others but that create conditions for those served to find their own creative and empowered voice. When they succeed, in even one life, the creative process moves on.

In our program, we learn to notice whenever we or someone else says, "that's just the way it is." We're taught that so many things "just are." We're taught, of course, that there is never enough money or food for everyone in the world. We're taught that we must compete in order to get ahead. We're taught that we need a million dollars in order to retire comfortably, or that only certain careers are roads to success. We're taught to stand up for ourselves, and that individual need always trumps the community. We're taught to save and invest - to store up our treasures here on earth. This is just the way it is.

We're taught to fear, and fear creates a certain anxiety that makes it hard to trust. Here at JIP we talk a lot about trusting God and trusting each other (and ourselves). We notice how "that's just the way it is" gets in the way of "this is the way it could be." We learn to read the Bible for the story of what might be. We look at the systems in our communities that keep people in poverty and want. We look at systems that separate us from our souls. Last week Bishop Curry preached here at the Chapel of the Cross and quoted George Bernard Shaw - "You look at things that are and ask why. I dream of things that never were and ask 'why not?'"

If the JIP curriculum does its job, these young adults (and a few older adults who take our courses) will form some new questions in the course of the year. If they didn't come here asking, "why?" then we hope they formulate that question early on. And, by the time they leave here, we hope to hear a few "why nots?" This, to me, is creativity. First, a deep comfort with the power of questions rather than answers. And second, the audacity to ask "why not?" and expect an answer.