An idea happened to me.

It was two in the afternoon, which allowed plenty of time for gestation or for the brilliant notion to slip away, so it had to be captured. I snatched a yellow post-it from the dispenser and began scribbling notes. I pinned down my thesis and the accompanying initial impressions. Once these were secured, I dropped the pen, folded the paper and slipped it into my pocket. The necessity of mental presence at work forced the idea to fringes of conscious thought, where there wasn’t much room to grow, but it stayed there and patiently waited for its time.

Hours later, I left the office. I locked the door behind me and pulled the piece of paper from my pocket and studied its contents while I walked to my car. I hadn’t forgotten them, but there had to be more to it all. I held tightly to the post-it and clung to the idea while I drove. I twisted the notion and turned it upside down. Twice, I recorded thoughts about it on my phone. Unfortunately, profundity and significance can be fleeting.

Once at my apartment, I grabbed a glass of water, my laptop and bible. I sat cross-legged on the chaise, leaned toward the keyboard and screen and started typing. At one point, I had to grab a volume of Systematic Theology and look up a word. Then I needed my concordance and my bible dictionary too. I had to have the facts straight. I needed to make sure that I was doing every bit of this the right way. I grabbed paper and scrawled side-notes and drew diagrams. I might have been writing but at the same time, I was experiencing something. The idea forced me to study. It had me ignoring texts and tweets as well as other thoughts. After a while, I realized that I really had to pee, but didn’t want to because I couldn’t pause the process. It was like I drank one of those giant, eight-dollar sodas at the movies but didn’t want to miss anything so I had to hold it to the end or be the annoying guy that goes and upon returning whispers too loudly, “Hey! What’d I miss?”

I had an encounter with something. It pulled me in. Though I was the creator, the process of establishing and developing, researching and rephrasing did something to me. It impacted how I thought. Not every idea does this. Only a few revelations really have the power to inspire this sort of effort. Smart people give themselves to the good ideas and ignore the mediocre ones.

A thought grabbed my attention and it captivated me. Truthfully, I’m still working on it because I enjoy everything about it. I believe the same thing happens with God when He creates one of us. It all starts with a notion, maybe it’s your personality. The work moves into your childhood, friends, faults and strengths. You’re as good as born by the time this happens. God had to get you started, but your lifetime is still part of the divine creative process. You’ll fall and it will hurt. Sometimes, it will even leave a scar. Other times, you’ll win and celebrate. Regardless, your creator will be hovering over you. He’ll make changes and intervene when necessary. I can’t tell you that God does or doesn’t pee (He is spirit though…), but it wouldn’t matter if He had to because He’s omnipresent and doesn’t leave. He will never miss a thing. He might have made you, but here’s the deal-

He’s experiencing you and He loves what He’s creating in your life.

★ Ps. 139 ★