I believe that June’s Wonderland isn’t just a fun way to past the time. That creative spark that June felt when she created it speaks to both something very human in all of us and, I think, a divine imprint each of us carry.
In the Bible, we’re told that we’re made in the image of God. We’re reflections of Him in some way. James says we’re made in his likeness. And that’s pretty cool. But I wonder sometimes if the Bible is referring to our physical likeness—or, if it is, if it’s just that likeness. I’d like to think that the Bible’s getting at more here than suggesting God has two kneecaps, just like us.
I think about our relation to the world more scientifically, too—especially the question as to what separates us from the other mammals in our midst. Some used to say language, but we know that animals as diverse as whales and bees “talk” to each other. Some would suggest our ability to use tools, but chimpanzees sometimes use them, too. Surely, it must be more than opposable thumbs that separates man and best, right?
And then I think about creation itself—the impulse we have to make things, being it a birthday cake or a birdhouse or an imaginary amusement park. The pleasure we get in the act of creation. The pride we take on seeing and enjoying what we’ve created. June felt that every time she sat down with her mother to conjure up another section of Wonderland.
We can’t create as God did, of course—conjure a universe from word and inspiration alone. But we do take what He’s given us to make our own modest creations. This blog post is a creation. So is the computer or smartphone or whatever you’re reading it on. We draw and paint and cook and build and write and raise and create. And I’d argue that while these acts of creation can be indeed challenging, nothing’s more satisfying. We feel the joy in both process and product.
Maybe that’s a hint of what God felt when creating the world. A touch of what He feels when He looks at us—creations still in process of being made whole.
But we live in a fallen world, and our own creations are never pure things.
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