C.S. Lewis make a good point in his writing An Experiment in Criticism, when he wrote: “We sit down before the picture in order to have something done to us, not that we may do things with it. The first demand any work of art makes upon us is surrender. Look. Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way (there is no good asking first whether the work before you deserves such a surrender, for until you have surrendered you cannot possibly find out.)” C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism

Art, music, and literature, at its best, makes us stop, listen, and imagine. Much creative work today is about distraction, but what if the point of being created in the image of a Creator is making and beholding beauty? Some practices that lift us from the consumer mind-set to a beholding mindset are things like: Lectio Divina, Visio Divina, and Audio Divina. Taking word, visual, and sound, into the place of contemplation – letting it unfold in our imaginations, the nudging and whispers of our Creator.