Bogenhofen: Sonnets of Creation

   In the few spare moments of free time I have had this semester, I have been working on an important project. You may recall that at the beginning of the school year, my youth group put together a church service for our school. During that church service, I read a story that I had written. The story was written in cooperation with two other individuals. Each of us had drafted separate stories which revolved around the central theme of our worship service. My friend Keith and I worked together during the processes of drafting and editing our stories and found that we really enjoyed working together. 

   So, I wasn't surprised when, a few months later, he approached me again. He is a recently graduated film major and working on his portfolio. He had been troubleshooting some ideas for a short film and had decided that he wanted to reproduce the stories we had written for church. He wanted to know if I was on board. I was a bit hesitant, but I said yes.

   I don't really know why, but I decided to send him a poem I wrote a few years ago called "The Sonnets of Creation" as well. Its a composition of seven sonnets and goes through the seven days of creation respectively. Keith loved the poem. He told me that if fit his vision perfectly. So, we began working. We put the poem through a few rounds of edits, Keith formed a clip by clip script, and soon we were ready to begin filming. 

   That was definitely the most stressful part. Keith is a very creative and bold person and some of his ideas were out of my comfort zone. But, this project wasn't about me. It was about Keith's portfolio, and most importantly it was about God. If we could put our heads together and create something that would inspire just one person, or glorify God in any way, it didn't matter to me how well it suited my tastes. 

   Regardless, we spent eight hours in the studio and it was excruciating. I was very uncomfortable with the sound of my voice and the look of my movements on camera. There were quite a few pep-talks before the day was over. 

   After we were done, it was up to Keith to bring our work to life. And when he did, I was astonished! It was beautiful! He did an incredible job editing, and although I couldn't quite see his image in the moments while we were filming, I saw it at the end and it was excellently thought out. 

  I will provide a link below for you to watch the final product. Then, I will tell you a little bit more about our final thoughts. Please consider liking the video and sharing it with others. We want to push out this content to as many people as possible because we don't know who it might inspire and who might find Jesus in it. 

The Sonnets of Creation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48-zb658SqE 

Behind the Scenes: https://www.instagram.com/p/DKKt71yoTm1/ 

  After the film was finished, we shared it at a morning worship, and then released it on Instagram over the course of the week. I want to share with you what we shared with the students. Keith and I connected over a shared love of story telling. Keith expresses his love of story telling through film making, and I express it through writing. These seem like two very different mediums, but when we brought them together, we were able to create something that tells an even richer story. We know that it isn't the most conventional christian content, but thats the point. Not everyone will be touched by a sermon, not everyone will be touched by music, but maybe someone will be touched by poetry, maybe someone will be touched by the artistry. We simply can't know, but we should be willing to reach every audience in every way as long as it still glorifies God. 

   I know for me, this project required a lot of trust and faith in God (and Keith too), but I've already seen the results. It was so impactful for both Keith and I to see how we were able to use our talents and our passions to create something powerful and full of meaning. Our hope is that it can inspire others to find creative ways to use their gifts for God. You gifts and interests don't have to be conventional just to be useful. Those blankets you quilt, those scrapbooks you make, those can be a tool. Anything is a tool in the hands of God, but you have to let Him use it.

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