A fresh box of crayons! Could anything bring more joy to a child?
When I was 5, we didn’t have the 64-packs, but I was thrilled with the simple array in the basic box. How raucous the red and how brilliant the blue! I couldn’t wait to shape a tree, or a moose, on a blank sheet of paper.
When I turned 9, though, all that changed. Oh, I still loved the fragrant crayons with their little pointy heads, but an art teacher started dictating how kids should draw.
She didn’t like pastels, you see, so scenes had to be vividly colored. She would stand behind my desk and critique my creations as they emerged from my imagination.
Before long, art class lost its luster. Kids figured out what the teacher wanted, and that’s what we gave her.
Creativity is a great and glorious gift from God, whether your medium is a clump of clay, a cluster of crayons or a cello.
But constant criticism mutes the muse.
A little child telling a story about a moose may turn out something wonderful indeed. The big lumbering beast may clip-clop right into your heart. But warn the child that the story must stay within certain rigid boundaries, and that moose may tiptoe away, distraught and disappointed.
In “Walking on Water,” Madeleine L’Engle describes most children as “naturally…artsy and creative -- until some junior-high art teacher tells them that they’re not.”
L’Engle compares artistic inspiration to the moment of the Incarnation, when God became man. You see, the miracle could not have taken shape unless a young girl named Mary said “yes” to the plan.
Similarly, ideas stand at the threshold of our imagination but will never prance on the page, or cavort on canvas, unless we welcome them.
Creativity takes time, though, and many children spend a big chunk of their day in school and hours more devoted to homework. What’s left of the day may be frittered away on television and e-mail.
Most parents want children to learn a “marketable” skill, so when Junior heads to college, Dad encourages him to choose a practical major -- instead of one that might be more attuned to Junior’s creative gifts.
Of course, Dad has his point, since the vast majority of painters, poets and pianists never get rich. Still, some things in life are more precious than gold. And one of these is using our God-given talents.
After all, if we don’t say “yes” to creative impulses, we are all impoverished. And we are denied a chance to meet that marvelous moose waiting in the wings.
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Lorraine’s latest books are “The Abbess of Andalusia: Flannery O’Connor’s Spiritual Journey” and “Death in the Choir,” a mystery set in Decatur. Her e-mail is lorrainevmurray@yahoo.com
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