The Process of Becoming

How artists shape worlds through worship and work
A Creative Community Exhibition

On Becoming

by Kelly Kruse

Becoming is a human process. We become who we are over time, often slowly. Sometimes that process goes how we imagine and sometimes we are becoming against our will. Like a work of art, as creatures we become who we are under the loving hand of a Creator. God, through the mystery of creation, begins our bodily becoming in the womb, and our entire life is an unfolding of growth, change, and decay that is governed by forces outside of ourselves. In him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). Our creaturely body is also an immortal soul—God makes a second birth available to us, one that allows us to become into eternity. In the same way that our physical becoming is marked by constant change, our spiritual lives wax and wane. Our earthly bodies are fragile, but we are not as limited spiritually as we are physically. We are capable of infinite spiritual growth and strength through Christ.

Singular human creatures become themselves most fully within a complex network of genealogy and relationships. We become who we are not in solitude, but in relation to the triune God and to those in our community.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27)

God entered our world to become Jesus Christ, the fullest and most complete iteration of a human being that the world has ever seen. And in his becoming, he died, that through him we might become our fullest selves–an entirely new creation–filled with grace and truth.

What is Creative Community?

Though individual art-making is often a solitary practice, artists have a unique opportunity to grow and flourish when they form communities where they can support and challenge one another. Creative Community was born when a group of fourteen artists and creatives in Kansas City committed to sitting across the table from one another twice per month at Christ Community’s Downtown Campus to share a meal, their work, and to have discussions in response to the work of other artists. We began meeting in September 2021. Our discussions have largely been shaped by the curated collection of art and essays called, “On Becoming,” from Art House Dallas.

I had the honor of facilitating the fall 2021 session of Creative Community, and I realized very quickly that we had a really special group of artists around the table. We are united by the threads of our faith, though we come from different backgrounds, denominations, and congregations. Our faith plays a different role in our individual practices. Some of us are vocational artists, others are just getting started, and some of us create for pure pleasure. Our varied perspectives and experiences make our group richer and more interesting.