creativity

Great artists know that the past provides essential ingredients for the future. Jacob Collier exemplifies this. So does Jesus.

Both Apple’s “Crush” ad and Catholic Answers’ AI priest alarmed people. There’s some hope in that reaction.

This is true of failures in writing, in faith, in life itself.

Being born is a holy calling to join God in free, joyful, and playful expression.

The most useful essays in this new collection are the ones that tell stories from parish ministry.

Escapism can be delightful. But artistic creation also uses the fodder of daily life.

The Prison Creative Arts Project at the University of Michigan

On the seventh floor of Hogwarts, Harry Potter and his friends discover a magical room. My church contains such a room.

It is extraordinary to hear a song reverberating off stonewalls and then dissipate into thin air. The soaring beauty of ephemeral art! Sometimes I find myself holding my breath as the soloist hits a high note or that incredibly awkward person tells his testimony. Do we appreciate that moment? Because many of us are conductors of that symphony, curators of beauty and we don’t realize the importance of our position.

Like most of us, I have creative energy. I forget the box in which I’m supposed to fit. I make missteps. I force change and watch the body reject my suggestions like a bad organ implant.

Montreat's Institute for Church Leadership is holding a Leading with Bold Imagination Conference. I'm the conference preacher, so they asked me a few questions.