As human beings, we are constantly surrounded by things whose origins we cannot fully comprehend, not even explain. It is interesting that we at times take part in some of these things without a slight realization they are the very phenomena whose origins we are seeking to explore. With regard to all the mysteries in the universe, the mystery of creation has remained one of the most common one among people in the whole world. So many individuals, scientists, researchers and artists have come forward to give their impression of what they think or perhaps believe it is. Despite the many explanations, all that has become evident is the inconsistency in their thoughts and ideas. This only takes us back to one aspect, the aspect of creation as explained with God in mind.
The introduction above will therefore serve as a pace-setter even as I go ahead to make a few responses with regard to the contents of the book; “The Mind of the Maker.” In this book, the author has presented a number of analogies in a bid to create a link between the mind of God the creator and that of man, who also happens to be a ‘creator’ in his own capacity. To begin with, I will give a summary of the author’ claims with regard to the creative mind.
As one goes through the contents and lines of this book, it becomes evident that the author has used a number of phrases, words and sentences in order to describe the creative mind. It is important to note at this point that while she talks about the ‘creative mind,’ the author enlists both God and human beings in the picture. The heavy aspect in this case is somewhat a comparison of God’s creativity as opposed to that of man.
The author claims that as much as the creative mind of man is enhanced by experience, that one of God was and has always been as a result of imagination. For instance, right from the second paragraph, she has used to the story of creation in the book of Genesis to demonstrate the supreme nature of God’s creativity. At the same time, the author has managed to show us how much God used imagination to do his work in the beginning.
That perhaps would be all in connection to the creative mind of God, what about that of man? According to the author, the mind of man depends on a number of things, these are some of the minute elements which has to be put together in order to see the fruitfulness of his creativity. This implies, the mind of man largely works from the pictures that are collected from the environment. This means, it is from experience that the mind becomes creative. This happens when the constituents of the experience are reformed in the mind leading to the production of a totally new idea, phenomena or object.
Secondly, according to Sayers, the creative mind is always full of the ability as well as the desire to make things. This implies, the mind is always curious to explain the reason behind one more existence, in the process, a lot more is discovered hence making the chain more and more complex as days go by.
The author also claims that the creative mind cannot work in any unique way apart from having to think in a series of metaphors. This implies, man with his mind cannot be able to create an explanation of something in the entirety of itself instead, the mind can only explain an entity in terms of other entities ( Paragraph 1,Page 23). In line with this, the author expresses how perilous it is to incorporate such a mind in trying to explain who God is but that is what men do, interpreting God by an analogy of ourselves. To add to that, in the second paragraph of page 24, the author exposes another claim with regard to the creative mind by saying that the mind, for the completion of its mandate, has to depend on observations and language as some of the key functions in this game of creativity.
Finally, the author gets to make another distinct characteristic of the creative mind. This is again done in comparison with the mind and works of God. According to the word of God, He made the world out of nothing; on the contrary, man cannot do that, man cannot come up with anything out of nothing. This implies, it is only possible for the creative mind to re-put together the units that are not alterable and indestructible and hence develop them into new forms. The portion above therefore gives a summary of the author’s claims about the ‘creative mind’
Part II
In this portion of the document, I will give an update of the author’s analogies for creation from an artist/writer to an information technologist. In other words, in this section, I will express the three step creative process in the framework of information technology. Perhaps one of the most dominant concepts that the author has borrowed in a bid to explain well the three step creative process is the concept of the Trinity. She has explained well how each and every member of the Trinity has a space and a responsibility that probably makes the others inevitably need it.
In the same way, the three step creative process appears in a nature so compact that each element or aspect of it obviously requires the other. According to the book, we realize that in writing, the elements of this creative process have to be expressed in a particular progression. This is because that is exactly how things are supposed to be. The three part creative process therefore has been expressed by the author using three interconnected elements.
To begin with, there is the element of the creative idea. This has been described as a timeless and passionless idea which beholds the work complete immediately before it really is. In other words, it is the creative element which almost gives the whole end when everything is just beginning. Analogically, the creative idea has been likened to the attributes of the Father as far as the holy Trinity is concerned.
Secondly, there is the element in this process referred to as the creative energy. This that comes out of the idea can also be called the activity. In this case, the working involves a consideration of a number of other aspects, hence it has to be done with both passion and time. It therefore involves being embodied in the bonds that exist between matter. Analogically, this part of the process has been compared to the image of the word, the word which is that of God.
Lastly, there is the element of the creative power which is actually the third process. This is the process that brings meaning to the work as well as the response that it creates in the lively soul. It therefore renders the work complete by creating a response to it, for instance people reading the book or running a created program. In line with the analogy with which it has been treated by the author, it has been likened to the image of the Spirit that deeply indwells the Father.
In conclusion, Sayers gets to summarize this portion by saying that the three are one and cannot be separated from each other. This implies, each and every single component of this process is greatly dependent on the other. As a result, as much as it may be possible to express them in the single entities, it is practically impossible to see the practicality in any of them without the input of the other. In a nut shell, Sayers in her book clearly brings out the fact that the creative process in the work of art and writing operates in a manner that greatly corresponds to the active relationship among the three persons of the trinity. In other words, the activity of one offers an illumination to that of the other.
References
Sayers, L (1941). The Mind of the Maker (1st Ed. Ed.). London: Methuen
