Creativity, forgiveness, guilt, harmony, holism, imagination, irenic

Word Definitions and Meaning

ver.: 20 September 2008

What is : creativity, forgiveness, guilt.
harmony, heck, holism.
imagination, irenic ?

Home > Spiritual Word Meanings > Forgiveness and Imagination

What Is Creativity ?

creativity [ < Latin creâre (to cause to exist) ] the ability to make something exist; to innovate, to imagine and make something come to be from it. To make something out of what's deep down within us which makes for conflict or peace, insight or resistance.

We make out of what is; even our thoughts are based on what we already have experienced/learned, so it's not quite the same thing as God can do. Yet even God doesn't usually create out of nothing. God prefers creating through created-stuff.

Human creativity draws from the same kind of creative power that is part of the image of God in us, the same kind of creative power that God used in making us out of already-existing earthly stuff (represented in Genesis by the clay and the garden). We can create that which is ugly, false, selfish, deceptive, flimsy, superficial, distortive, evil, greedy, murderous, violent, controlling. We can create beauty, harmony, truth, compassion, solidity, durability, trust, justice, righteousness, solidarity, peace, community. Creativity cuts both ways, like everything else in this created realm (remember that next time anyone praises creativity). Creativity is not a matter of thought. Creativity must go somewhere, do something, be something, or make something happen. Otherwise, it's not creative. It is spiritual by its nature; it lives. But often, being patient and wise are more important than being creative.

You can also look for 'creativity' in the dictionary.

What is Forgiveness ?

forgiveness [ Old English forgiefan; akin to give, gift ] to renounce anger, resentment, vengeance, and punishment against someone. The word-field includes pardon, excuse, condone, exonerate, to let go of, to absolve, to remit, propitiation, expiation.

God's forgiveness is the key act in making us right with God. Each of us has actions and attitudes which get in the way of God's purposes and how God has taught us to be. God forgives these freely, through what is done by Jesus the Christ. Now that we're forgiven, our task is to forgive others. This does not allow you to be someone's dupe, or be an enabler (in the 12-step sense). Forgiveness is not pretending that the wrongs never happened, or giving approval to actions and attitudes that are harmful. It does not mean that you can sit idly by while others are wronged. That does no good for anyone. Forgiveness by itself does not make the relationship healthy again. But it does clear away your own resentments, your inner stake in the conflict. Forgiveness of others is done with clear eyes, working to reduce the opportunity to do the wrong again. By forgiving, you sow the seeds for that person's repentance. But your forgiveness itself must not be conditional; Jesus calls you to forgive anyway even if they blow you off. You do your part, because Christ did His; they must deal with theirs.

"Forgiveness is not just an occasional act: It is a permanent attitude."
-- Martin Luther King Jr.

You can also seek forgiveness in the dictionary. But you'll only find the word 'forgiveness'; you'll have to turn to God for the actual thing itself.

What Is Guilt ?

guilt [ Old English gylt (crime, criminality) ] When you realize you've done something wrong, in the past or present.

There are at least two forms of guilt that affect us:

1. forensic guilt, like that found in criminal courts. This is based squarely on factual matters: "So-and-so has been shown to be the one who did a certain thing." This is often followed by some form of penalty or censure.
2. psychological guilt, which is the effect of some action of yours on how you think about yourself. Other related words are blame, shame, fault, and onus. There are many mothers who are fine practitioners of the art of creating this kind of guilt. The churches, over the years, have created this kind of guilt inside of many believers.

On the one hand, there is no way to turn away from wrongs or to reconcile without realizing that it was wrong and feeling the wrongness of it. On the other hand,

• Having psychological guilt doesn't always lead to a turning away from our wrongs. Sometimes it leads to defensiveness, excuses, and evasions in order to escape the consequences of our wrongs.
• Psychological guilt can weigh you down, get you depressed, and cause you to hold yourself back from life's challenges.
• Guilt's often an excuse for not allowing yourself to be forgiven, an excuse for punishing yourself instead of fixing yourself, or for staying apart instead of reconciling.
• Worst of all, guilt can fuel self-hatred.

That's where what Jesus did can give such release: "neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more." Since God does not condemn you, you're free to enjoy what God has given you. You're free from having to let guilt nag you or weigh you down.

"Mothers, food, love, and career: the four major guilt groups."
Cathy Guisewite, cartoonist of "Cathy"

You're allowed to feel guilty enough to check the dictionary on 'guilt'.

What Is Harmony?

harmony [ < Greek harmonia (harmony, agreement < working together) < harmos (joint) ] a sense of being in a rightful relationship with the rest of existence. Harmony can't happen in a system where all things lose identity into an Absolute (like most Asian and New Age religions); the result would be one melody by one voice, no unison and no parts. Christianity holds that each person -- and beyond that, each part of nature -- is loved by God for what they are. If all of them sing only what they feel like singing, it's just noise, a cacophony not a harmony. But if they follow the Conductor, there are melodies and harmonies, rhythms and raps, whistles and claps, leads and backup. It would all fit together. That harmony is the Kingdom, not our current life. But we can now live according to God's will as revealed in Jesus, and thus be a part of the harmony now and later.

The three closest earthly things to this harmony are:

1. being a part of a loving community;
2. being in love with one special person;
3. being part of a singing group.

You can also check for 'harmony' in the dictionary.

Heck : where people end up who don't believe in Gosh.

What Is Holism ?

holism : involving the whole [ < Greek holos (whole) ]. Holistic approaches envision a person or thing as a whole rather than examining its parts as if they were separate things. God treats us in that way. Paul looked at the Church holistically, by likening it to a whole body in which the parts have to work together in order for it to function. In that sense the church is one whole life, or "one body". There are some activities, ways of thinking, and ways of living that do harm to the whole. For instance, pollution of one place is pollution of the whole earth, and it eventually starts spreading around. Some amount of tension and disbalance can be holistic; a tooth is 'disbalanced' in favor of calcium and hard materials, but that makes it able to do a task that is healthy for the whole body. We can appreciate difference as potentially healthy, but some kinds of difference are not; for instance, cancerous cells will kill the whole, as will cells that have taken in certain viruses, and invader cells from the outside that have no committment to the whole. You can't be holistic just by adding an herb to your diet or taking a 'natural' supplement. Holism is about not one or two things, but the whole thing including its relationship with other whole things. In history, God works mostly through little things whose effects add up holistically.

Look here for one example of a real holistic approach to illness. You can also check the dictionary on the meaning of 'holism'.

What Is Imagination ?

imagination [ < Latin imâginârî < imâgô (image) ] the mind's testing ground. By imagining, you can find out how things might become, even if you know through ordinary thinking that they can't be that way. Imagination finds ways, possibilities. Imagination is not reality, but it usually has at least some way of being reflected in reality. (When it doesn't, it's mere fantasy.) You can use your imagination to set yourself into what happens in the Bible, and thus let it have more impact on you. God's got a great imagination, though one that's a bit strange. (Would you have imagined a giraffe?) God imagined us before creating us. God uses imagination to make a way out of no way, to make good come from evil. When the Holy Spirit is inspiring someone, that person's imagination is engaged and running at full speed, taking them in new and unexpected directions.

Imagination can also give us a wholesale escape from truth. (For instance, TV shows are often vehicles for a craving to escape reality, triggering our imagination both when the show is on and when it's off.) Today's world has become so good and so thorough at the art of triggering use of the imagination for escape that it is easier than ever to trick ourselves or let others trick us. Our imagination becomes trained to go in that same escapist rut, and is thus crippled in helping us deal with real life. We need less to 'expand' our imagination than to redirect it toward grasping a full vision for the real world.

Now, imagine looking for 'imagination' in the dictionary.

What Is Irenic ?

irenic : bringing or causing peace [ < Greek eirene]. Also : peace-making, bridging, frithening, shalom, reconciliation. When something is done in an irenic way, it is being done in a way that helps find common ground, creates understanding and appreciation, or soothes sore points of dispute. Paul was calling Christians to be irenic when he wrote of his ministry as a "ministry of reconciliation". There are times when irenic is not what is needed; there's a time to break eggs to make the meal. Sometimes being irenic will prove to be a temporary way of putting off really dealing with a matter. But an irenic approach is usually more helpful and more in line with the ways of the Kingdom.

You can also check the dictionary for 'irenic'.