poiema (ποίημα)
OK, but did you know the Greek word for workmanship is poiema (ποίημα)? It describes God's creative activity. It's the word from which poem and poetry are derived. In Eph 2.10:
"... for of Him we are workmanship [poeima], created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God did before prepare, that in them we may walk."
That is why C.S. Lewis wrote, in "The Problem of Pain":
Do you know what it means that you are God’s workmanship? What is art? Art is beautiful, art is valuable, and art is an expression of the inner being of the maker, of the artist. Imagine what that means. You’re beautiful … you’re valuable … and you’re an expression of the very inner being of the Artist, the divine Artist, God Himself.
Which makes me think of Rm 1.20:
"For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and all the things that make him God [his divine nature] – have been clearly seen [perceived], understood through what God has made (poiema)."
So we can't say "always the poet, never the poem", after all.
The reason we can be poets it's because we have been created at the image of the Greatest Poet. He wrote you. He knows all your lines, your rhymes, your broken verses...
And He knows how amazing the end of the poem is. He is still writing. You are living art. Your eyes. Your heart. Your soul. You're unique—everyone is unique! Doesn't that make you feel humble?
You're special, and so is everyone else. It's not a competition to see who is better: we are all loved, because God is infinite, so he can love you infinitely, without dividing himself— without dividing his attention, his power, his presence.
He can be everything to everyone at the same time. He is the bread that never ends, forever multiplied.
He is the Eternal Artist and we stand in awe.
(As the eternal choir sings...)
