This post could be “500 things I learned at Karitos 2014” I think. My brain and my heart is full and processing. But I decided to keep this short and sweet.
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Art Ministry is Helps Ministry
Multiple speakers hit on this. Our calling in Scripture is not to make music or dance or write or act. Our calling is service, our calling is reconciliation, our calling is love. We are not the worship ministry team or the sound techs or the drama team, we are helps ministry. I hope I live this out more and more.
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We Must Write for Others
Blogposts and books and speakers seem to disagree on this. You hear never write for others, but write for yourself. You hear to keep your readers in mind. It’s all a back and forth. Yet here I am saying that I learned we MUST write for others. First off, multiple speakers brought up great points on this, but Jane Rubietta specifically mentioned it. Writing for others makes us responsible and deliberate in our writing. And our spiritual life always affects others; we are “the body,” so what affects me affects you. So we need to always be aware that what we are writing is for others as much as ourselves.
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It’s Not a Waste
J. Scott McElroy spoke about Mary of Bethany dumping the alabaster jar on Jesus. Times with our art can seem like a waste. I could be DOING something! Yet it’s for Jesus, it’s not a waste. And what did Jesus say? “Years from now, people will be talking about this.” And we are.
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Interruptions are a Part of the Plan
Whether interruptions in life or in our writing, God isn’t shocked by them. In fact, He often is planning this. What is God wanting from this interruption? When Jesus healed the blind man in Mark 10, He was on His way to the Palm Sunday celebration. But He stopped. Interruptions are for a reason. I want to be able to find the reason and be open to interruption.
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Karitos Isn’t About Learning
Yeah, you learn alot. And that’s the hope of course. Days and weeks and months later, you’re still processing what happened there. But it’s not about the learning. It’s about the happening. Going with the flow of God and celebrating the arts in every form with likeminded people who are seeking God like crazy in their own crazy way. This is why I hope to be a part of Karitos for a long time to come.
Want more info? Visit the Karitos site, or like them on facebook. Register for next year, only 65$ this month (almost 50% discount.)
Photo credit: Maggie Schoepke is one of the coolest people ever. She took the amazing photo in this post, of me and the bathroom decor (coolest bathroom ever at Wheaton Academy!). You can visit Maggie’s blog here.
Very nice way to sum up those three precious days! I really like what you said in two. I’ve been struggling with that a lot, and I do admit that through Karitos I kind of came to the same conclusion. Four also hit me hard. As I read this off my computer screen, sounds and noises from down the hall have caused me to glance through these sentences multiple times. Now I realize though, that I must’ve needed to hear some of those truths again and again to get them through my head. Thanks again for sharing this! I’m so happy I went to Karitos, learned so much, and let myself just sit back and watch God do what He does best. I’m also so glad I got to meet such a like-minded person as you, and hopefully keep in touch through here! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the post, and that you recognized the “interruptions” while reading as for a reason 😉 We definitely must stay in touch til next year. (Well and after haha.)
Thanks for putting into words what my heart was saying about my time at Karitos!
Glad it resonated with you too!