Made to Create
Fall has been a full season in the life of the Fellows. We’ve worked, helped, volunteered, and led at a pace that doesn’t seem to slow down. As volunteers at the Hutchmoot Conference, we got to serve Christian speakers of all different artistic backgrounds: illustrators, musicians, poets, professors, and more. It was a chance to break away from my everyday perspective, to experience the awe of the beauty God has made possible in this world. The encounter kindled a desire to dig up my own artistic roots, and I left fed with the message of a gospel that sweeps broken people into the call of a loving messiah. We recently spent a Monday morning hiking together in Montgomery Bell State Park. As we experienced the crisp beauty of Tennessee in the fall, we got the chance to catch up at the pace of our own two feet. We joked, shared perspectives, and took time in silence to pray as we walked. Mondays begin with class together and end at night with a fellow sharing his or her life story and testimony of God’s grace working along the way. It’s been a sweet window into each fellow’s life, and hearing each person tell their own history has been a good reminder for me: There’s more to everyone than meets the eye. Even people you know well still have depths of character and experience to offer. Monday night discussions are a practice of empathy, knowing, and honoring someone while we celebrate what God has done in his/her life.
October can sometimes be a “hard month” in a Fellows life, the time when newness wears off, work becomes more repetitive, and tiredness sets in. It’s this time, though, that gives us the opportunity to reflect and build each other up. It’s a time that can see us turn to God for strength or strain ourselves into exhaustion. I’ve been encouraged by other fellows checking in and supporting each other in this season. I got to share coffee with Will and Bailey recently. I left thankful for honest conversations and constructive feedback. It takes work and communication to live in a community, and I’m thankful for the chance to practice this in the supportive framework that the Fellows program provides.
We recently had the opportunity to be taught by Dr. Morgan Wills, physician and associate professor at Frist College of Medicine. In addition to sharing his own faith and experience, Dr. Wills helped us to take a walk through the first pages of the Bible. In Genesis, we see a God of both unspeakable power and great relational love. God’s command to “Let there be...” doesn’t simply create as an artist creates with a brush. God creates so that his creatures will themselves go on creating!
In my own life, this has been a convicting truth to reflect on. What does it mean to be fellows, employees, housemates, and agents of God’s creating power in the world? It means that God uses us to carry out His kingdom right here in Nashville. This truth is beautiful enough to make my heart sing, but it is at the same time deeply saddening. Beautiful in what it shows about our Creator’s original design and promised renewal of all things, saddening when I see my own attitude and actions fall short of that design. Saddening, also, when I see suffering and injustice twist the lives of those around me. I’m thankful this month that Fellows has put a community of people around me that I can celebrate the beauty God has offered, be honest about the ways that I fall short of His design on an everyday basis, and be reminded of the daily offer of grace that Jesus extends to busy and still broken people like each of us.
Alex Roberson, Class 13
Hometown: Jackson, MS
Auburn University Graduate
