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New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

"A Liturgy for Morning Prayer," Upper Room Worshipbook

Used by permission from the Book of Common Worship, © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved. This prayer appears in “A Liturgy for Morning Prayer” in Upper Room Worshipbook.

Creativity and Divine Surprise

Finding the Place of Your Resurrection

Karla M. Kincannon • August 2005

BUY Print $8.99

BUY eBook (Available in ePub or Kindle) $4.99

Deepen your relationship with God as you discover your God-given gift of creativity. Creativity is usually defined narrowly and associated only with artists or children.

"Creativity is so much more than art making," writes Kincannon. "It is a tool for navigating through everyday experiences to find the sacred in each God-given moment. Those who believe they lack creativity have relegated it to remote regions of their life, burying it under the need for security, approval, and control. However,…creativity does not die; it simply waits to be unearthed and set free."

Creativity and Divine Surprise couples insightful meditations with thoughtful exercises that will help you celebrate your divine spark and connect with God. Can't draw a straight line? Color-blind? No worries. If you yearn for God and desire greater awareness of God's presence in your life, you're ready for this book.

Through Kincannon's words, you'll see creativity as a source of revelation, joy, healing, and fulfillment, and we all need those things. Ready to dance, draw, paint, take pictures—masterpieces or not? Let the Creator work in you through your creativity, so that you become God's masterpiece.


Karla Kincannon is an artist, author, and affiliate faculty member at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She is the founder of SpiritArt Ministries and the author of Creativity and Divine Surprise. Karla believes God’s gift of creativity, given to each of us, is an essential tool for the spiritual journey. She invites you to live the creative life God intends.

ISBN: 978-0-8358-9812-6

Kindle ISBN: 978-0-8358-1258-0

EPub ISBN: 978-08358-1259-7

Imprint: Upper Room

Pub Date: August 2005

Trim Size: 5.25 in (w) x 8.5 in (h) x 0.473 in (d)

Page Count: 224

BISAC Categories: RELIGION / Christian Living / Spiritual Growth

BISAC1: REL012120

BISAC2: REL012040

BISAC3: REL012000

"Karla Kincannon invites us to know ourselves as spiritual pilgrims and artists. Through stories, reflections and practical exercises she shows us how to be more available for encounters with ourselves, the world, and God. The Creator endows each of us with creativity that is a source of revelation, joy, healing, and fulfillment. Prepare to have your senses attuned to the Holy in all things."
— Luther E. Smith Jr. Ph.D. Professor of Church and Community Candler School of Theology, Emory University "Reading this book, I felt I was receiving measured spiritual direction from a skilled and compassionate guide. The author's notes of humor frequently caught me taking myself too seriously. After trying just a few of Karla's rich tapestry of exercises, I'm eager to test more creative processes that yield greater awareness of both myself and the divine Presence."
— Marjorie Thompson Author of Family The Forming Center "Creativity and Divine Surprise makes the case that all are gifted with creativity. As we follow a disciplined practice of seeking this gift, it will be revealed in surprising and wonderful ways."
— Rueben Job Bishop, The United Methodist Church, and Author of A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God