Getting to the Heart

Lorissa Manners
Apr 11, 2022
5 min read

Updated: Jun 7, 2022

Faith art is a form of art that is birthed in the realm of faith. But how does this work?

It can be understood like this:

Your imagination is your connection to the unseen realm.

Faith is of the heart (or spirit), seen in the eyes of your imagination.

Artistic expression opens the connection to your heart (spirit, inner being)

Creativity is a flow of inspiration that is both within your mind/being and has practical application and expression in your reality.

It's like this, when a musical composer first begins, there is a a desire to create, a spark of inspiration, a knowing that it is possible, then the creative flow needed to experiment or hear musical ideas brings the creative process into being, after much experimentation arriving at the final destination - the creation of a song.

Faith and art work in the same way;

hope comes first, it is painted on the minds-eye as a picture,

then faith springs forth and gives expression to that hope

bringing forward a creation.

HOPE

The inspiration is when the picture is painted first on the heart in the form of a picture of hope.

This is the place where the promise or potential is held.

This young seed needs to be protected, mostly from attacks of doubt, fear, discouragement and distraction.

In the transfer from hope to faith, the hope needs to be strong, potent enough to bring about the next stage of the process.

Faith is generated by the forming of a strong vision of hope, sometimes referred to as our 'awakening'.

When the picture of hope is strong enough, it can develop into the next phase of faith.

FAITH

Faith is the bridging space of 'knowing' or 'being', between the hope and the act to follow. When we have faith, we have confidence or capacity to achieve our hope and we 'know' it, we have what we need to make it happen.

This causes the transfer from the intangible to the tangible.

It is the 'believing' stage, where we know it is possible and that it will happen.

LOVE

The next phase is the 'becoming'.

A butterfly starts in the darkness of a cocoon as a grub, then becomes winged in beauty.

Hope and faith happen in the cocoon but flight happens in the sunlight.

Love is the final stage and the end result of our faith.

We become the creative force and flow that engages in the creative process.

We put effort, capabilities and raw materials or resources into motion to bring about a result

Love is the outward physical expression where inspired creativity takes shape and form and 'becomes'.

It is an act of heart (spirit), an outward act in the sensory realm.

Troubleshooting

Some people struggle finding inspiration or hope, for them I would suggest creating a space that feels supportive as this is the most fragile part of the process. The senses and inner being needs to be gently coxed into finding new and interesting material. Be friends with books, poetry, nature, music, candles, walks and soft cuddly animals! Having a studio, craft/sewing room or worksheds can help you develop your creative hobbies! This is why people go on holidays, the soul needs to be restored and nurtured. Often this also involves a slowing down of time, and it's in this environment where hope flourishes. Our bodies need rest, our minds need down-time.

Others feel they lack in 'faith', to you I would say this. Have you developed your hope? Have you filled your soul with beauty? Have you felt connected to your spirit and to God's spirit? Faith can only come once the hope is a picture formed on the heart, and this takes time.

Secondly, because faith also has to do with our belief and capacity, ask yourself this, do I need to take a class? Do I need to develop my skills? Do I need to do some practice projects first? All of these will increase your capacity and work together with the hope that is being built in your soul.

Finally, do you struggle with output. Perhaps you have all the skills, and you know you have songs inside, paintings ready to come forth, words to write, but there's a problem. What is it? Before you default to shaming yourself for procrastination, do this one thing, read on.

Because its possible there's a deeper issue that is rarely ever revealed or discussed but it is so common, amongst creative artist's especially.

Be warned, on this point you may get offended, but be brave enough to tackle this one, it happens to all of us. Read on.

The answer is Worship. The problem is 'self'. The answer is, not to become a dam where 'self' stops the flow.

Energy has a source and all energy returns to its source and this is the process of worship.

Just like a sunflower who follows the energy of the sun, we need to know where to look.

Just like a waterfall that starts in the mountains and makes its way into the rivers, the ocean and then becomes the storm that rains once again on the mountain top. We too, need a flow that returns to its source.

Worship is the creative flow, moving through you and back to the one who gave you your creative desire, gifts and talents. Acknowledging the great Creator Spirit, is to return honour by acknowledging the source of creative inspiration. Without true worship we can implode, many famous stars (musicians, actors) experience this when they can't handle the pressure of fame. It is easy to become absorbed in self-loathing, self-exaltation, self-sabotage, and lacking in self-worth. Through worship we can be set free from all of these.

When we are loved with the right kind of love, where our spirit connects with God's spirit, we can be built-up in hope, in faith and in love.

This is why love is the full expression of an action of faith. It is faith in motion.

It is an outward expression of the things of the heart.

Art is an act of love.

So finally, what was in the intangible unseen realm moves from thought and heart expression; to a vision of hope, to an impulse of faith, into an action of love.

And so these three things remain,

Hope, Faith, and Love

And the greatest of these is Love