Creation and Imitation

Lord God, beautiful Creator,
I have yet to create anything.

From mud pies to masterpieces,
everything I have formed or fashioned
has been a simple, sometimes crude, rearrangement
of your mighty works.

I have ever and always used the raw materials you provide
to make something that seemed new
but was in reality an imitation of you,
of your words,
of your wonders.

Sometimes, I confess,
I have cravenly tried to imitate
others who imitate you:
poets, prophets, and preachers,
artists and musicians,
whose gifts for reflecting your beauty and imagination
inspire awe and envy in me.

But they are imitators, too.
So save me, Lord,
from imitating other imitators.
Grant that I may always--
and with increasing artistry--
imitate only you,
the sole Creator,
the true Innovator,
the only Originator of all beauty and creativity,
in Jesus' name, amen.