San and Creation

What is it to create?... To be a creation? ... To be a creator?

The Inhumans would definitely know. They're born just like the rest of us, but during their life they're remade by the Terrigen Mist. The mist makes them into a whole different person with unpredictable aspects and attributes.

San (pictured) always had high expectations of himself. As a child he thought, "Fighting is in my blood. My father is a distinguished member of our Royal guard, as was his father and his father's father. I'd come to think of Guardsmanship as our family's genetic heritage, even though that sort of thinking is frowned upon. See, in Attilan, every Inhuman's place in life is determined by genetic profile... But our full genetic potential isn't realized until we undergo Terrigenesis, a process by which we're transformed into truly unique individuals with unique talents.... Until we step through the Terrigen Mists, we won't know our true calling. Because of this, Inhuman children aren't encouraged to take special interest in any particular trade. Disappointment's hard to come by when there are no expectations. But I knew differently...."

"My heart pounded... I kept a strong face for my parents, even when I could feel the mist changing me. My skin--my whole body--was in flames, it seemed. I wanted to scream out in pain. I wanted to hammer at my transparent prison until I broke free. The only thing that kept me sane in that eternal instant was my faith in the future...."

"When I emerged from the mists with my full genetic potential I realized... I could feel it. I was shorter. Smaller. Weaker. I hadn't become a warrior. At that moment I knew my dreams would never come to be."

As his friend, Nallo (an Inhuman bard), says to him, "Your life didn't turn out the way you'd planned. That is what you get for planning it in the first place."

But, then, what did San become?

Nallo: "San, you and I are artists. We're valued rarities amongst our people. You should feel like royalty!"

San: Do you know why we're rarities? Because we're surplus to requirements, that's why. We don't develop technology. We don't provide food or shelter. We couldn't defend our own people if we wanted! We're useless."

"Nallo played, and for the first time, I [San] actually listened. His composition was at once beautiful and haunting. I imagined it was the call of an artist's soul. For the first time, I felt a sort of reluctant satisfaction about my station... about 'only' being an artist..."

San's ability is to create. He sculpts art. Eventually he learns it to be his only release. He ends up being sent to Earth with Jolen and the others. Although he still often seems lost and unsure of himself he has learned that although he might not think of himself as brave, strong, or unique he really is. He is still able to do incredible things. Perhaps he is even more equipped to his destiny than he ever has been before.

San is where many of us are in life. We plan ahead. We want to know what's next. We feel the need to prepare. But, no matter how secure we may feel about them, our plans often don't work out.

God works through other means and calls us to do other things. Does this mean we shouldn't plan? No. But, we should trust God's plan more than we trust our own plans. His plans are the only ones that remain secure (Proverbs 19:21).

God created us and the world out of nothing at the beginning, But, God didn't stop after that. He continuously creates in our lives. God is able to work through our plans and our past in order to help Him prepare our future.

He has knit us together in our mothers womb. He knew us even before we knew ourselves.

"O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand." Isaiah 64:8. "Like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand." Jeremiah 18:6.

He continued to create through His Son. Jesus changed the world through His sacrifice and resurrection. He then changed everything by sending His Spirit to dwell within us. This is the type of living creation that still lives in us and with us. Like San, the Holy Spirit transforms us in our lives with the Gospel (Romans 12:2), another type of creation.

Do not think yourselves weak. God is your strength. Even though we cannot see what He has chosen to make with us, it is something strong and unique. It is who God intends us to be. Even if we seem lost and unsure, we can trust in Him that His plan will go on.

He continually creates and forms us to His pattern.

Interestingly enough, he has also often given us the means and the yearning to create. And, His fire burns inside of us. We want to be one of his instruments (like Paul) in His creation of more Christians.

... And, He will continue creating us until that final day when we are in Paradise forever with Him.

... Where He will no longer need to create us because we will be completed in Him.