Why create?

My most recent new experience has been teaching art to a small class of homeschooled children ages 5-12. While I have been immersed in visual art my whole life, translating that into communicable language seems like quite a challenge. I have been using some sources here and there but mostly I am creating a curriculum from scratch. In one of my first lessons, I decided to talk about why artists do what they do. Why do we create? That seemed like such a vast question to me. Yet, in the same instant, I silently replied just as I had been taught, "To glorify God of course." While I do believe that to be the answer, I also tihnk there is much more depth to that whole idea than I had realized before. I have heard the term "glorifying God" so many times that it has settled into that group of pat Sunday school answers along with "Jeeee-sus". As I rolled this question over and over in my mind, I was reminded of a lesson I taught recently on color. Color fascincates me in the fact that the colors we see are only a small portion of a gigantic spectrum and that we only are able to see those colors because of special equipment that God as built into our eyes. It blows my mind to think of what we will see in Heaven, when we have perfect eyes. But I am getting off subject quickly here! What God showed me was in the fact that color comes from light being reflected or absorbed by the object it is shining on. Do you see where I'm going here? The reason God chooses us as artists, the reason our reflection of Him is so important is because he made us unique. The light will reflect and absorb in different ways on each of us, revealing a new aspect of Him, a new portion of the spectrum of His glory. This gives new meaning to the idea that we are all part of one body, each playing a different role. It makes no sense to compare our works one against the other to see what is best. The only purpose comparison should serve is to bring greater glory, greater honor to the ultimate picture.