In the Beginning...
Some dreams are born in the dark.
No story better illuminates this truth than the story of Creation itself, as the opening verses of the Bible declare:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1:1-4)
Out of the void – a vastness without shape, life, or light – God created everything that ever was and ever will be. Into the absence, God – from the depths of His heart, the soul of Creation itself – breathed life into being with His words alone. Those words were born from:
A longing
A desire
A dream
Out of his infinite longing, his desire for a family, and his dream of life, God created the universe and everything in it, seen and unseen, including time itself. And the story that ensued – and is unfolding every second since the birth of time – is at heart a love story between God and this broken world that He is seeking to restore.
As children of God, we must never forget that our Father made us to be like him.
“Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27)
Like our eternal Father in heaven, we too were born to create. This includes not only the literal ability to bring new life into the world, but to create through our gifts, talents, and passions.
Every invention, idea, book, song, painting, business, building, technology, or other creation that inspires is a blessing and a point of light in this world. And everything that shines, that brings light and life to others, honors Him.
Simply put, when we are working within our giftings, we are bringing light into the world.
Matthew 5:16 reminds us:
“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
We glorify God by honoring and praising Him with our lives, and that includes sharing our giftings for His purposes.
One of the most remarkable characteristics of humankind is the ability to create from a place of darkness, as “beauty for ashes” (Isaiah 61:3). In our fallen humanity, we will encounter darkness in all its shapes and forms – death, loss, scarcity, disease, oppression, pain, cruelty, and pure evil. But even in the midst of our personal, societal, or global darkness, we have the ability to create something of value that inspires or enlightens others. And in this victory, we glorify Him.
Horatio Spafford’s personal story of creating beauty in the most hellish of circumstances exemplifies this truth.
By 1870, Spafford had reached the pinnacle of success as an attorney and real estate investor in Chicago. But in 1871, he lost most of his investments in the Great Fire of Chicago, which decimated much of the city into a pile of ashes and rubble. A few years later, tragedy struck again, when Spafford’s wife Anna and their four daughters were en route to England via a transatlantic steamship, the S.S. Ville du Havre, when another vessel collided into it, killing more than 200 people, include all four of the couple’s daughters.
In one of the most heart-wrenching moments of this ordeal, Anna sent a telegram to her husband from England that began, “Saved alone.” Shortly thereafter, Spafford traveled to England, and while aboard his ship, he wrote the timeless hymn, It Is Well with My Soul, which comforts so many in their suffering, even today:
‘When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea-billows roll,
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to know;
It is well, it is well with my soul.’
The beginnings of our great American nation also exemplify the enduring power of a dream to overcome all adversity and glorify our Creator.
When the Mayflower Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in November 1620, they had already endured a harrowing journey of 66 days across the Atlantic – including sickness, storms, and rough seas. After having suffered religious persecution by the Church of England, they ardently sought freedom to worship God and create a new life in a new world. The dream of America, of a life of freedom, sustained them through the worst of times, including their first year of Plymouth Colony, in which nearly half of the ship’s passengers tragically perished.
If we are alive and breathing, we will at some point find ourselves shipwrecked in our own lives.
For many in this world, including yours truly, that watershed moment arrived in 2020 when life as we knew it was shaken to its very core. But in the midst of loss, isolation, tyranny, darkness, and evil, some of us held on to hope like a piece of driftwood in the rolling seas.
For me personally, a new dream was birthed in the aftershocks of 2020.
In November 2021, I founded my creative arts business, House of Riverenza, as a publishing imprint with a singular goal:
To be a light in this world by sharing creative content that instills hope in the hearts of readers.
Derived from the Latin word “reverentia,” “riverenza” is the Italian word for reverence. Born out of a love for storytelling, I created House of Riverenza to publish artful creative writing that inspires readers to live life with hope.
Like anything worthwhile, good things take time. By 2021, the dream of having my own business had already been five years in the making. In 2016, I began working with my brilliant mother, M. Carolina Bento, to publish her novels – stories of faith, resilience, strength, determination, courage, and redemption. To date, we have published six novels under the House of Riverenza imprint, with several more stories currently in production. Her next novel, Remember: The Place of Dreams, is slated for release this month. (To purchase our books, visit www.houseofriverenza.com).
House of Riverenza is also my platform for sharing my own writing, including this Substack series on faith, creativity, inspiration, love of God and country, America, and freedom, as well as guided meditations.
Lastly, House of Riverenza is my vehicle for sharing my music. I am a classically trained cellist and self-taught guitarist with a passion for playing Christian hymns and the American songbook. You can find samples of my music on Instagram and other major social media platforms.
Most dreams are just flickering, fleeting sparks of images, words, and colors that disappear into the void. But some dreams ignite. And through painful circumstances and trials, they are birthed into the world to illuminate and edify.
It is my sincere hope that this Substack series will inspire and ignite the dreams of your own heart.
Select Links:
https://www.thetabernaclechoir.org/articles/it-is-well-with-my-soul.html
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/americancolony/amcolony-family.html
Photo Credit: Stephanie Bento
© Stephanie Bento, House of Riverenza, 2023.