A Liturgy for Faithful Creatives

By Kimberly Phinney

I woke up this morning to what felt like a thousand notifications. If it wasn’t a thousand, it sure was close.

To my great surprise, the liturgy I wrote the night before in the middle of a late night of emotional turmoil, which I posted to our Instagram account the following evening, had truly struck a nerve.

Hundreds of faithful creatives posted, shared, commented, tagged friends, and direct messaged us that they were in tears, shaken (in all the right ways), moved, soothed, and seen. Somehow, the simple words that fell out of me, written alone in my own need to pray through our realities as faithful creatives, was exactly what this community needed to hear.

But to be honest, I almost feel like I can’t take credit. It’s as if penning my name after these lines is a strange thing. Why? Well, it’s because the words hit me like a ten-ton truck.

It was as if God gave me the exact words to write. No doubt, I was in flow. I wrote it in just a few minutes. In the morning I revisited my prayer, and I could feel a pulse to it. It moved me, it held me, and I knew I needed to share it.

So, where did it come from? Well, I was working on a butterfly puzzle with my husband and daughter, and I was definitely ruminating about this season in my life and if what I am doing in pursuing this creativity is enough. If it is worthy enough… If I am worthy enough? This world screams at us to “be something” to “do something,” and I wondered if this something counted for something.

It’s so easy for imposter syndrome and self-doubt to creep in—especially when you hear “no” or “not yet” or are dismissed by others when you say, “I am a writer,” or “I am an artist.”

We creatives suffer a particular lot, and we need one another so desperately. Don’t we? We need God and to be centered on how and why he created us. We are valid without needing others’ validations. We are worthy without needing others’ high appraisals. We are precious regardless of if our art makes millions of dollars or nothing at all.

The truth is, God did ONE thing first. He CREATED. God is the original artist. This world is His canvas. He is still creating today—pushing back the Universe, hanging stars together, and breathing life across the expanse.

If this creative life is ENOUGH for God, then it is enough for US.

We were made for this.

So, keep your eyes on HIM. Keep your pen to the page. Keep your brush to the canvas. Keep your pointe shoes to the floor. Keep your fingers on the keys.

Do it all. Make what calls you. Exalt beauty. Exalt truth. And in it, you will be exalting the God of the universe, and even doubters will stop to see, take a deep breath, and perhaps contemplate the very spiritual principles we know to be true.

You belong here,

Kimberly

So without further ado, here’s the prayer that spoke to your hearts:

A  L I T U R G Y  F O R  F A I T H F U L  C R E A T I V E S

You are brave,

and this is so hard:

the doubt you fight back

to create something profound,

to bear your soul,

to write the words,

to sketch the form.

Your work is holy.

Your beautiful heart is holy, too,

shaped by your Maker to do what you do.

You struggle so much to know the weight of the world,

to carry all those buzzing feelings within you

and to push them through your art—

so that beauty is known,

so that truth is told,

so that God is seen and known and loved

in a world that so desperately needs what you have,

yet forgets to see who he is—

and who you are.

You, who battles the darkness and finds the light

on the dance floor, the canvas, and the piano,

or in the lines of the poem that struck you at midnight.

You know what I mean,

in these words that I write.

You, who battles self-criticism, cynicism, romanticism,

and worst of all, imposter syndrome.

You are called.

You are not a fraud—

you are real as the day is long,

as the sun shines on,

and the moon sings songs over all of us.

And you are needed, too.

And you were kneaded together in your mother’s womb

for this very task that you assume:

to make art in this world and to make it last—

this single, unique spark of life that is you,

dancing with your wild heart for all to see—

wide open (and sometimes free).

He sings blessings over you.

I sing my gratitude.

You are needed.

You are seen.

God made you for this.

May you believe.

Amen

KIMBERLY PHINNEY

Kimberly Phinney is a mom, wife, and child of God. As a professional helper and artist, Kimberly is an English professor, as well as a counselor and photographer. Her writing has been published in Ekstasis, Fathom, Calla Press, Humana Obscura, The Dewdrop, and more. After surviving a severe form of Stage 4 Endometriosis and sepsis in 2021, she is now earning her doctorate in counseling to help the marginalized and suffering. She is the founder and editor of this faith community and literary journal, The Way Back to Ourselves, and was recently featured on ABC News and Good Morning America for her national teaching award and the compelling health story surrounding it. As a mental health and disabilities advocate, Kimberly hopes to use her life, story, and art to help others find their way back to wholeness and faith in a world that has forgotten how. She is glad you are here.