After 25 years of producing content for television, Andra Duke has come to realize that the creation process is godly and is an opportunity to share gospel truths. As she delivered Tuesday’s devotional at Brigham Young University, she focused her remarks on the spiritual potential we each have to be the creators of our own lives.
Duke taught that as God created our world, He intentionally organized and shaped it, bringing order to chaotic matter.
“All meaningful creation begins with a spark, a kernel of an idea that is filled with potential. It requires faith, imagination and focus to grow it into existence.”
The divine capability to create sets us apart from all of God’s other creations, Duke said. We have the ability to create an idea and bring it into existence with us to this earth.
“Isn’t it interesting that out of everything He created on this Earth, only we are made in His image? I believe that with this truth comes a divinely inherited ability to spiritually shape our own creations, including the experience and path we forge here in mortality.”
Some may think that they are not the creative type, believing creativity to be reserved for the writers and musicians of the world. Duke challenged this notion, promising that creativity and creation are integral parts of our spiritual DNA.
Quoting Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Duke added her testimony to his. “The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before … Remember that you are spirit [children] of the most creative Being in the universe.”
Duke explained that creativity is a broad and beautiful pallet in which all can participate, as it encompasses unique expressions. Creativity can even be manifested in something as important as nurturing relationships and serving those around us.
A requisite to spiritual creation is the ability to see potential in a person or in a situation, even when others can't. Duke said that Heavenly Father is the perfect example of demonstrating this skill, as He always looks at His children and sees all that we can become.
“As children of God, whatever state we’re in right now — whether we’re rusty or just need a good polish, this inheritance means that our potential is endless. How might your desires, focus, choices and path change if you could fully see yourself as God sees you?”
One of the most important ways to utilize our divine gift of creation is by shaping our own stories. Duke expressed the wonderful concept that each individual has a unique story and path that is shaped by mortal experiences and daily decisions.
“Is your story an intentional spiritual creation? Is it a story that relies perhaps too heavily on another’s influence or is happening too much by default? Is it a story that is in harmony with our Master Creator, our Father in Heaven?”
Duke taught that each day and each choice allow us to carve our souls, which are works in progress. The carving of our lives will shape our existence here and into the eternities. Others can make carvings on our souls as well, and as such we must be cautious in who we spend time with.
“The most important carvings will be those that are led by the Spirit. When we listen and choose to act, these pivotal carvings transform our lives.”
