The Day After This Day

The principal benefit of creative thought is hope.New possibilities are electric, and hope is the light that shines from them.Creativity is the source of hope even when your hope is in God: “I don’t see a way out of this, but I’m betting that He does.” We depend upon God’s creative thoughts to do what we cannot.I’m sorry if my mention of God annoys you. (Just for the record, He is never annoyed when I mention you.)Creative thought is much on my mind these days.President John F. Kennedy told a story in 1962 about a mother who wrote to the principal of her son’s school, “Don’t teach my boy poetry, he’s going to run for Congress.” Kennedy commented, “I’ve never taken the view that the world of politics and the world of poetry are so far apart. I think politicians and poets share at least one thing, and that is their greatness depends upon the courage with which they face the challenges of life.”Hope is the glow that surrounds creativity, and courage is the confidence we gain in that light. Kennedy seemed to know this.We want to think ‘outside the box’ because we can’t breathe in there. The box is made of rules and the lid of the box is the heaviest rule of all.Rules are created with the gentlest of intentions.We know a thing best when we’ve learned it the hard way. Wisdom springs from experience. The best of the past is brought forward when we give others the benefits of what we’ve learned. Such advice is valuable and often deeply appreciated until some fool carves it in stone and it becomes an unbreakable rule. Did you notice how quickly the darkness fell? What happened to the breeze? Why can’t I breathe?Help me push open this heavy lid.Rules kill hope by suffocation.Creativity brings hope to life again.I see a person in your life with whom you have some difficulty. I see a health issue about which you’re worried. I see financial fears. Possibilities, possibilities, possibilities.I came to encourage you.Eighteen hundred years ago, Marcus Aurelius, the last of Rome’s Five Good Emperors, said, “Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”The day after this day is called Tomorrow and it’s never been here before. I hope you’ll show it a good time.A touch of creativity is all it takes. And you’ve got the touch.Roy H. Williams