An Invitation to Co-Create
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
July 27, 2025
1 Corinthians 12:7 (New Revised Standard Version)
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
One evening as Sue and I were shopping for some groceries at Target, I wandered off, as I often do, to the book section. Lately, I have been annoyed by the limited selection of books Target now carries. I sense it reflects the “dumbing down” our world is experiencing, currently.
That night, I stood looking at too many pop-psych-self-help books, a variety of over-priced Taylor Swift books, an assortment of trendy religious writers who fill books with a lot of fluff for a quick sale, some biographies of people not experienced enough to share their wisdom, and a plethora of empty journals almost crying out for creativity to return on their pages.
I stared for several minutes at the shelves, but nothing was drawing me in. That is until I noticed a book lying on the bottom shelf. I think the once Barnes and Noble bookseller in me cannot resist an opportunity to re-shelve a book. As I picked it up, I noticed it had a different feel, and it had a simple circle on the front cover. Now, that it was in my hand, I decided I would crack it open and randomly read the page that was presented to me.
Here is what I read standing in the book section of Target that night:
“Creativity is not a rare ability. It is not difficult to access. Creativity is a fundamental aspect of being human. It’s our birthright. And it’s for all of us.
Creativity doesn’t exclusively relate to making art. We all engage in this act on a daily basis.
To create is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before. It could be a conversation, the solution to a problem, a note to a friend, the rearrangement of furniture in a room, a new route home to avoid a traffic jam.
What you make doesn’t have to be witnessed, recorded, sold, or encased in glass for it to be a work of art. Through the ordinary state of being, we’re already creators in the most profound way, creating our experience of reality and composing the world we perceive.
In each moment, we are immersed in a field of undifferentiated matter from which our senses gather bits of information. The outside universe we perceive doesn’t exist as such. Through a series of electrical and chemical reactions, we generate a reality internally. We create forests and oceans, warmth and cold. We read words, hear voices, and form interpretations. Then, in an instant, we produce a response. All of this in a world of our own creation.
Regardless of whether or not we’re formally making art, we are all living as artists. We perceive, filter, and collect data, then curate an experience for ourselves and others based on this information set. Whether we do this consciously or unconsciously, by the mere fact of being alive, we are active participants in the ongoing process of creation.”
Wow…I found myself holding those words for quite some time. I finally turned back to the cover to read the title, The Creative Act: A Way Of Being by Rick Rubin. Yes, that is Rick Rubin the American record producer and co-founder of Def Jam Records. Rubin, a Caucasian man with a robust beard from Long Island, New York brought us LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Run DMC, and later a reflective and knocking on heaven’s door, Johnny Cash. These, ironically, are some of the artists that shaped my youth.
A few days after this experience, I was driving and listening to All Things Considered on NPR, and Rachel Martin was ironically interviewing Rick Rubin. The title of this interview was Rick Rubin on taking communion with Johnny Cash and not rushing creativity. If you have a chance, I highly recommend you listen to this 12-minute interview. It isn’t profound, but something about it spoke to me. Actually, if you go online and pull it up, Rachel Martin writes a preface to the interview where she says this,
I go through phases where I need to make stuff. Sometimes I need to sing. Sometimes I need to take a ceramics class or learn a song on the guitar or the piano. But after a while, the urgency fades and the art-making takes a back seat to the responsibilities and rhythms of my regular life.
But as I think about the next chapter of my life, I want to figure out a way to be more intentional about how I harness those creative bursts so they become less like flashes of inspiration and more like a steady light that may intensify or dim but never goes out.
Last week in my message, I mentioned that I believe we are all art-makers and even said we would probably explore this in greater detail. I want to start with these two quotes I shared, but I want to present them to you in the form of some queries this morning to ponder. Ask yourself:
Do I believe I am an active participant in the ongoing process of creation?
How might my creativity become a steady light that may intensify or dim but never goes out?
When I was an Anglican Priest, I remember being at a gathering where a discussion was raised about the theological perspectives of Mary the mother of Jesus being a co-creator with God. I don’t know if the future Quaker in me was pushing back at the dogmatic debate or if I just wanted to find a way to relate, but as any artist does, I began to daydream about what it means to be a co-creator with the Divine.
Up until this point, I believed that God was the ultimate creator, because all of my Christian theology books highlighted God as the ultimate creator, the source of all creativity, beauty, and order in the universe. I don’t ever remember being included in this creative process. Actually, it was pretty much all God and I was simply enjoying his creations.
Yet, I started to question…weren’t humans made in God's Image (the Imago Dei)? And didn’t the Bible say that we were endowed with a creative capacity that reflects God's own creative nature.
By this point I was no longer thinking about Mary, but was deeply sensing a new spiritual epiphany, personally. I realized that all along the Spirit had been inviting me to be a co-creator with them. Something in the depths of my heart jumped at this thought. Today, I might say it made me quake deep down.
I realized that this meant that “art-making” was an invitation for me and others to participate in God's ongoing creation in the world, reflecting God’s beauty and truth through our own unique expressions.
I am pretty sure in my earlier years, this idea that I am a co-creator might have been considered heresy. Actually, in early Quakerism, this would have probably been considered heresy, as well.
I try to explain this briefly in the Affirmation Classes I teach on Quaker Artists, Authors, and Musicians. Sadly, early Quakers did not embrace art. Early Quakers emphasized a life of simplicity, believing that excessive material possessions and frivolous ornamentation could distract from a deeper spiritual life. Early Friends valued a "useful education" that taught religious principles alongside practical skills. Art that was deemed solely for aesthetics, rather than serving a practical or spiritual purpose, was seen as "vain imaginings" and a distraction from attending to the "pure Life". As well, early Friends believed that formal art, music, and elaborate rituals, could potentially hinder or replace a direct and unmediated connection with God's Spirit.
As a Quaker and artist, myself, I find it almost ironic that art draws me into a more simple and spiritual life and actually help me deeply connect with God’s Spirit in very personal and unique way.
One of the Quaker artists we look at in our Affirmation Class is Fritz Eichenberg. Fritz was an accomplished illustrator, arts educator, and wood engraver. I am sure you have seen his art and never even knew it. When reading his words, I sense he too had a personal epiphany regarding being co-creators and Quakers. He remarked,
Can’t we see that the essence of art is a source of life renewing itself in every act of creation? The same should hold true for a spiritual movement such as the Society of Friends, which needs constant renewal. Without the arts we lose our youth—without our youth we lose our Society.
And this is where I had another epiphany of thought. Tom Rockwell, our Assistant Superintendent shared with us at Western Yearly Meeting Sessions that Quakerism is significantly in decline – I might say we are on hospice, maybe not here at First Friends, but definitely throughout the world.
I have been wondering if this could be because we have not embraced this life renewing act of co-creation as Friends? Meaning we have not found ways to EVOLVE as a Society of Friends – please understand I believe evolution is an act of creation – now, that is an entire sermon series in itself.
This is where I go back to what Rick Rubin said,
To create is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before. It could be a conversation, the solution to a problem, a note to a friend, the rearrangement of furniture in a room, a new route home to avoid a traffic jam.
This is what Quakerism originally did for Religion – it had a new conversation, if found new solutions to the problems of this world, it rearranged the “furniture” of organized religion and had us sitting in different places. No longer was the authority or knowledge coming from priests or leaders, now it was coming from within and our relationship with God was more personal than it had ever been. For this illustration, the Quakers even learned how to avoid “traffic jams” by learning how to better communicate and speak truth to power. These were all things before Margaret Fell and George Fox the religious world was missing.
I have a feeling many Quakers today are still relying on the methods and procedures of our founding mothers and fathers. Very little has changed…very little has been created…very few of us have embraced our “art-making” ability and our invitation to be co-creators with the Divine.
Instead of embracing creativity, we have embraced another “c” word – comfortability (this may be another topic we will explore soon).
For a while during the American Civil Rights Movement, Quakers had a moment of creative revival. But as I have studied it, I have come to believe it was more of a “creative burst” or “flash of inspiration” as Rachel Martin said in her introduction.
What we need now, both in Quakerism and our world is that “steady light that may intensify or dim but never goes out” whereas Rick Rubin put it “we are active participants in the ongoing process of creation.”
When I first was introduced to Quakerism, my mentor was the Superintendent in my future Yearly Meeting. He explained that what drew him to Quakerism was that their Faith and Practice was fluid – and what he meant by that was that it could be questioned, and wrestled with, even torn up or changed. What I believe he was really saying is that it could evolve or be re-created.
If Friends are going to make a difference in this world, we are going to have to answer that invitation to co-creation with the Divine. We are going to have to bring our gifts and talents – our art-making – from music to math, from basket weaving to barn building, from cross stitch to calculus, from deep sea diving to dental hygiene, from entertainment to ecology, from farming to freestyle skating…do you get my drift.
And in our Quaker Meetings, we need to embrace this creativity as well. What’s not working for us, and how might we create something new to replace it. How might we like the early Quakers create something new that utilizes our gifts and does not get us stuck in our ways.
Honestly, I don’t think our structure of committees and clerks are probably that creative anymore. There must be new life, new visions, new conversations, new answers to the problems we face, not a recurrence of the same old same old or simply getting people in line to our old ways.
“We have always done it that way” is simply anti-creative – it doesn’t challenge us to try something new or find a better way. One person said it is the first line of a dying institution. And so are the phrases,
"It's always been done like this," or "We don't want to mess with what works," or “I am not sure that is the best for us at this time,” or “Let’s wait until next meeting to make this decision.”
I want to challenge every committee at First Friends to be creative, to think outside the box, to bring together the talents, gifts, and the many assets of this meeting to find a new way forward, new life, and a creative force that can give authentic hope and create positive change, and form a united community amidst our unstable world.
Sure, we can keep the things that are working going, but let’s lay down those that don’t work anymore to make space for new ideas, new possibilities, and new conversations.
I want you, the people of First Friends to be coming to meetings with new possibilities, creative solutions, and a spirit of change – ready to evolve into something better than what we have right now. And I want each person in this room to see themselves as active participants in the ongoing process of creation and together with this community be ready to find that steady Light that may intensify or dim but never goes out.
Will you join me in answering the invitation to become co-creators with the Divine?
Now, as we enter waiting worship, I ask that you ponder some or all of the queries I have presented in this message:
· Do I believe I am an active participant in the ongoing process of creation?
· How might my creativity become a steady light that may intensify or dim but never goes out?
· Will you answer the invitation to become co-creators with the Divine?