In October 2013, SangMin Lee, a young South Korean Mennonite, called the police to announce that he was a conscientious objector and would not fulfill his mandatory military service. Following his trial six months later, Lee was taken from the courtroom directly to prison and subsequently became the first Mennonite conscientious objector in South Korea.

For a brief, happy spell, I had a tutoring job at our public elementary school down the road. Reading, writing and doing math with 20 third graders, I could bore my ideas into their little sponge minds. Even after a statewide funding cut eliminated the tutoring program, the regular teacher let me come back to help out.

No doubt, it was the highlight of my trip to Italy. Anyone who has seen it knows what I mean. The Creation of Adam, the central image in a long line of frescoes that grace the narrow ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo’s portrayal of the Creator’s finger reaching out to touch the finger of humanity is one I keep returning to, even some 20 years later. It is, for me, one of the most powerful images of God. In it I see that we are not only lovingly created but that our own creative acts are an extension of that love. In the midst of those acts we emulate the Creator. In this way, our creativity becomes holy work.