Faith & Writing #9 – Big Write/Little Write

I love to write by hand.  I enjoy it because it feels good.  I enjoy it because it feels like I am writing, not just working.  I enjoy it because I can do it any time or place.

That last one is a biggie.  I write in an A5 notepad with a hardcover and ring spine, so I can flip it open and pen a few words whenever the notion takes me.  I write in queues, I write in traffic jams, I write in boring meetings, or just wherever I may be. 

This is what I call the “small write.”

It is a lot like prayer.  I don’t wait for a special time and place to pray.  Wherever I am, when the notion takes me, I shoot off a quick word to God.  I tell him how I am feeling, and ask him for help with something.  Or just say “Hi, it’s me.”

But I also like to write at set times.  Like for at least 30 minutes in the morning before I start the day.  It helps me to get the nights thoughts out of my head, and onto paper.  So I commit to an hour of writing in the morning.

This is what I call the “big write”.

I do the big write every day, regardless of whether I feel like it, or whether I have anything interesting to say.  I just write.  Because I need to make a habit of writing if I want to call myself a writer. 

The big write reminds me why I want to be a writer, and the small write reminds me that I am a writer.  I can’t live without both of them.

In the same way, I start each day with set prayer.  I pray at set times, like lunch, or at night, as well.  Even if I don’t feel like praying, or don’t feel like I have anything to say.  I pray, to remind myself that I am a Christian.

The set prayers help me to want to pray throughout the day, because it starts the day right, and keeps me focused on who I am.

“Small prayer” makes my life a Life of Prayer. 
“Big prayer” makes me want a life of prayer.

Ready Writers

As you may have gathered by now, I consider myself something of a writer.  I maintain a separate blog for my writing persona, David Seven. 

In fact, one of the regular series on this blog, and the other is one called Faith and Writing, wherein I explore the connection between my faith, and my writing.  For a more complete explanation of why I consider my faith to be tied-up with my writing, might I suggest this post.

Well, about a year ago I was attending a quite day, and doing some meditation on Psalm 45, when I came across verse 1.

My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

And that verse kind of stopped me. Am I being a ready writer?  I know in the context it is referring to reciting verses of praise, but it got me thinking about how I use my pen.

Am I a ready writer?  Am I ready to use my pen to praise my King?

So I decided to register a new blog, called Ready Writer.  I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it yet, but I decided to register it anyway. 

Except that I couldn’t.  The name was already taken. (By someone who isn’t even using it!!)  Then, while fiddling with other names, I found that Ready Writers was not taken yet.  So I registered that as a blog. 

And then I realised why I was supposed to set up a different blog; because it wasn’t going to be just mine.  I see it as a blog of some sort with many ready writers using their pens to glorify their King.

But I don’t know exactly how it is going to work. 
Am I going to use it like a Christian writing journal and ask for submissions? 
Am I going to do (daily/weekly) writing prompts and encourage writers to post on the blog? 
Am I going to do a combination of both?

Enquiring minds want to know.

What do you think?  Drop me a line, and tell me how you think I should do this thing.

Thank you.

Oh, yes.  The blog is on WordPress, and can be found here.

Biblios Hokku - Jude

The book of Jude is another letter written to try and combat heresy.  Jude, possibly Jesus’ half-brother, urges his readers to “…contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” (Jude 1:3) He warns that Godless men have crept into the church “…who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” (Jude 1:4b)

To put it simply, they were teaching that being saved by Grace, meant you could keep sinning and it would not held against you. 

Jude reminds them that this is not how it works, and that they must not be so easily taken in.

 

JUDE
Contend for the faith.
Your freedom is not to sin,
but to live in Grace.

 

I am particularly proud of the double meaning in line two. :-)

Faith and Writing - The Creative Spirit

We are told in the Bible that GOD made us in his image.  Male and Female he created us, and then he breathed his Spirit into us.

In his image.

With His Spirit.

But what does that mean?

Well, the first thing we see of GOD in the Bible is in Genesis where he is creating the Earth, and everything in it.  GOD is a creator.  More than that, he is a loving creator, who loves each beautiful thing he brought forth.  He created the peacock because he loves beautiful things, he created the Hippopotamus because he has a sense of humour.

And he loved each thing he created.

In my writers group at the moment, we are working our way through a book called The Artist’s Way.  The book is subtitled “A Spiritual path to Higher Creativity”. 

I like that. 

I like the fact that the author, Julia Cameron, says that GOD is a creator, and when he calls us to be like him, he is calling us all to be creators as well.  Suppressing your creative spirit is not only suppressing what GOD gave you, but also suppressing part of his purpose for your life – to create.

I have always felt a strong connection between my writing, and my spirituality, and I think this is one of the ways GOD wants me to express not just myself, but also Him.  I remember a line from Chariots of Fire, where Eric Liddell says, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.”

I believe God made me for a purpose, and it might not be to be a writer.  But when I write, I feel His pleasure.  Because then, I am using his creative spirit.

And I hope I can learn to love everything I create, not because it is beautiful, or humorous; but because it is my creation.

Biblios Hokku - James

Ah, James.  I am a huge fan of his work.  I have designed and presented bible studies on this book on more than one occasion.  James is a pretty straight-forward kind of guy, and doesn’t beat about the bush.  Take for example James 2:19 “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”

James is probably most famous for raising the whole question of faith vs. works, and his claims that faith without works is dead.  I think we often get tied up on that section, and look too much at the charity argument.  But this passage was not about being charitable, or caring for the less fortunate.  James was trying to tell us that….

JAMES
To grow in spirit;
Your belief is not enough.
Faith needs deeds to live.

Our deeds are what make our belief into faith, what gives life to our faith, because the two are in fact one.  Like body and spirit, we cannot have one without the other.

At least that’s what this FISH believes.

For the complete Biblios Hokku, go read my other blog.  Or stay tuned for further poems. 

Water

A few years ago I did a bible study based on Finding Nemo.  I think I may have mentioned it before.  Maybe a few hundred times.  It’s kind of the reason I use the name Sharkbait.

One of the weeks we talked about GOD being like the water in Finding Nemo.  He is all around the fish, even when they can’t see him.  Water is life for the fish, and if they try to break “free” they will die. 

So I guess the idea of GOD as water is often with me, and I have ever done a few posts where I compare him to the ocean, or a bucket of water.

Well a while ago I was sitting staring at a river while doing my Bible study, and I got to thinking.  I got to thinking about the different “faces” of GOD.  How people will talk about the wrath of our Old Testament GOD, or the love of the New Testament GOD, as if they are different people.  And we find it hard to accept.

But we accept it in water.  Don’t we.

If you go out to the ocean, you see the pounding waves.  They crash and rage, and destroy pretty much anything that dares to get in their way.  You can take a huge rock and throw it in, and the power of the waves will cause it to be pounded to dust eventually.

But it often stops before it crushes it completely.  The rock will be broken, but not destroyed.  Instead, as it is battered under the force of the waves, it will become smooth.  The edges will wear down, and it will be made beautiful. 

Then it will be carried down a river, until it lands on the shore.  The slow, steady wash of the tide will shine that stone until it is more beautiful.  And it will lie in that still water, being made clean.

I thought of this as I picked up smooth stones on the river bank.  Not a single broken or jagged one there.  All smooth, and shiny.  As I sat there, enjoying the peace of the smooth water, I realised this was the same water which had come from the open sea. 

The water which thundered and roared, also lay still and peaceful.   The same water had broken these stones, and was now making them perfect.

Sometimes in my life I try to throw my own strength against GOD, as if I could overcome him.  He takes that, and breaks what is not of him.  But then that same GOD, that same water, will smooth me, and shine me, and allow me to rest in his peace.

GOD is both the ocean, and the river.  The raging water, and the still.  He is what we need HIM to be, and he will do with us what we will. 

We can’t find peace, until we have found our shape.

When we need a mighty GOD, he is there, guiding us in his way, and molding us. 

When we need to find peace, he is there as well.  Infinite and peaceful, able to smooth us and make us shine.

Write it out.

 

I can relate. 

I feel like one of my areas where GOD calls me to serve him is with writing.  I am a part-time writer – which is to say a really bad one.  In addition to my fiction and poetry, I also write bible studies and manuals, and study guides for books and bible-studies that already exist.

I wish I could say that I feel GOD speaking to me, and that I just take dictation.  But for me, sometimes, the process is a little more… painful?  strange?  scary?

I feel like I get images, and pieces.  As if I have had all the ideas shoved into my head all at once, and I have to try and sort them out.  At times, drawing a new manual feels like I am trying to keep sixteen plates spinning at the same time, and if I take my eye off one for more than a second, it will fall, and they will all follow.

So I write, and draw maps, and connect Bible verses with pictures from movies and try to fit it into the theme.  Sometimes I will be working on a study for weeks before I know what it wants to be about.  But when I figure that out: when I find out what the hook, or theme is, suddenly everything falls into place like a jigsaw puzzle.

I think that’s why GOD does it that way.  To remind me that it’s not about me, and also to make me work at it.  To force me to slave over it every day, until it it perfect, rather than just writing down what he says, like a holy typewriter.

But while I am writing, it can be a wild place in my head.  Where I feel like I need to write everything out of my head as fast as possible, before it explodes.

Then, sometimes, I get the whole thing in a flash or explosion.  Where I can see an entire play, or idea, at once.  And I need to write it down quickly.

A few weeks ago I was sitting by the side of a river at 5AM, having my quiet time with GOD, and staring at the water, when he dropped one of his insight bombs on me.  I will be sharing it with you all shortly.  The problem was that I was sitting by the side of a river. 

With a bible, and a pencil, and nothing else.

So here is the rock I chose to write my latest blog post on.  Good luck deciphering the map.  If you can’t read it, I will be posting the normal version tomorrow.

GOD chooses some strange utensils.

I should know, I’m one.

 

RDM #18 – If it’s worth doing…

So here we are, on another fine Rainy Day Monday, and it is time to reach into the vaults for an old and undervalued post by a talented writer.

 

So I decided to use me today. :-)

 

On my other site, Seven’s Heaven, I have a series called Faith and Writing, where I examine the similarities between writing and being a Christian.  There are actually more than you might think.

 

Here’s an old post I did about perfection, and how it can be a bad thing.

 

Faith and Writing – If it’s worth doing…

I have heard it said that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well.  My response to that is… Nonsense.

If something is worth doing, then it’s worth doing badly. 

 

Particularly writing.

 

If you spend too much time agonising over every word, and getting it just right, then you will never finish anything.  There is a story told of James Joyce that one day a friend arrived at his house and found him crying over a manuscript.  He asked him, “What’s wrong.” 
“I wrote seven words today.”  He replied.
“Seven words?  But that’s good for you James!”
“Yes,” he replied, “but I don’t know what order they go in.”

 

We often get what might be called Paralysis by Analysis.  Where we are so intimidated by choosing the right first word, that we can’t even get to the second one.  So decide to use the wrong one, and then take it from there. Ray Bradbury said “Your creativity know what it wants to say, don’t get in the way.”

 

This I believe is the way to go forward.  People accept less than perfection in other areas, why not writing?  If I tell people I paint in my spare time, they are all impressed, regardless of the result.  If I take them to my study, and show them my paint-by-number set, they smile and say, “At least he’s happy.”  I play the guitar.  Really badly.  And people are okay with that.  As long as I don’t try and play for them.  So why do I feel I have to be perfect as a writer?  Why can’t I make mistakes, and learn from them.

 

The same with our faith.  Why do I feel like I have to get it right every time?  I know God told me to be perfect, but seriously! That’s not going to happen overnight.  If I make a mistake, and slip backwards, I beat myself up, and think I not be a real Christian, because I can’t get it right.  So what do I do?  I stop trying.

I fall back into an old habit or sin today, so I don’t even try and avoid it tomorrow.

But the secret is to keep learning and moving forward. 
To see every split infinitive and sin as an opportunity to become better.
Not to wallow in self-pity over spilled vowels and impure thoughts, but to vow to do better, recognising that nothing comes without effort.
To recognise that if I try so hard to be perfect, I will set myself up for a fall.
To know that if I wait until God’s voice is audible, or my creativity dictates the perfect book, I will have a long wait, but in the meantime, to just do the best with what I think I hear, and let him guide me to hear better next time.

 

So get out there and do it, even if you do it badly.

So leave a comment, and if you are also doing a Rainy Day Monday post, leave a link.  I know one day it will catch on.

Faith and Writing : Where the heart is

For lent in the past, I have given up reading, television, internet and other things.  I have done this in addition to any other fasting or self-denial, in order to give myself time to pray and study the word.  It’s hard to say “I don’t have time to pray” when you pull two hours of TV out of your day.

And I struggle with it.  After a few days, I lie down, and reach for a good book, only to remember I am only supposed to be reading The Good Book.  I say “40 days is a long time, I am not sure I can do this.”  I start feeling tired from getting up early to pray.

But that’s normal, right?

I don’t know.  If you recall I am also an amateur writer; and every November I take part in something called NaNoWriMo.  This means that during the 30 days of November I try to write a 50,000 word novel. 

Last year I cruised through it.  I wrote late at night, early in the morning.  I don’t think I read a single book the whole month, and maybe watched 5 hours of TV. (usually with my note book next to me to make notes)  I spent a couple of hours a day writing, and if I woke up in the middle of the night unable to sleep, I would do a few pages before going back to sleep.

And I did this for 30 straight days without batting an eyelid.  I mean it wasn’t easy, but I was determined!!!

So today is day 30 of lent, and I don’t think I can say I have given the same level of dedication to these past 30 days as I did to NaNoWriMo.

But it just goes to show how easy it can be, if you really want it.

So why do I find it easier to be a writer than a Christian? 

Why can’t I apply that same level of dedication and sacrifice to my Lenten discipline?

Faith like Potato salad

I am a pretty good cook, if I do say so myself.  My chicken and pasta dishes are quite tasty, and don’t get me started on my Lamb Chops in Garlic and Butternut.  Mostly I am self-taught, finding recipes and adapting them to my tastes; but one thing I did learn from my Mother – Potato Salad.

My mother never sat me down and told me “This is the recipe for Potato Salad” for the simple reason that she has no recipe.  Instead I watched her for thirty years as she added a little of this, and a little of that until it ‘looked right’.  Not the easiest thing to learn, trust me on that.  I helped to peel potatoes, and boiled eggs and gradually did more and more until now I can make a decent potato salad. I never asked her to teach me, but it tasted so good, I just couldn’t keep away, and one day had to try it for myself.

Of course my potato salad is slightly different.  I prefer to grate the onion with a serrated steak-knife rather than cutting it, and my pieces are smaller.  It’s just the way I prefer it.  So I learned a great deal from watching, stuff that could be explained, but can only be learned by watching, tasting what works for you, and making mistakes.

My Mother is also probably the reason I am a Christian today.  It wasn’t only her potato salad that she showed us over the years, and she made her faith so tasty, that we all chose to try it for ourselves.
(Although I am the only one who can make Potato Salad.)

Are you making Potato Salad for your kids, and those around you? 

RDM #6 - Higher Ground

After posting guest posts from friends of mine for the last few weeks, it is time to do another Rainy Day Monday post from my own archives. Here's a little something I put together in February called Higher Ground. It is something that has been on my mind again lately, so I thought I would share it with you.

HIGHER GROUND

And every hour of every day I'm learning more
The more I learn, the less I know about before
The less I know, the more I want to look around
Digging deep for clues on higher ground...
(Higher Ground - UB40)

I used to love this song when I was at school. I don't know whether it was the cool melody line in the chorus, or the fact that the lyrics made no sense. I could nod my head and pretend I understood, and that this was just too deep.

Now, many years later, I think that these words kind of describe my relationship with God. Over the last few years I have been trying to learn more about him, but I find that the more I learn, the less I understand. Or, the more I learn, the harder it becomes for me to understand. As a child I was content with what I had, now as I learn more, I start to realise that God wants more from me, and less. All he really wants is a relationship, and then for everything to flow out of that. So simple, but also so difficult. Following rules I can do. Reading and learning I can do. Being kind to others, well.... I can try. Loving God and wanting him only for him? Can I really? I don't know. It's a hard one.

Over at my other blog I did a post titled "It's not just about the chocolate" in which I talk about the fact that as Christians we need to be focused not just on eternity, and what God has done for us, but also on the now, and who he is to us. At least that's what I was going for, it might just be a post about chocolate. I never can tell.

In theory, the idea that God is seeking a relationship with us first and foremost, and that this is more important than our actions, is so liberating. But it scare me too, because I don't know whether I am up to the challenge. I have never been good at relationships. I am getting better, but there is still a long way to go. So I guess the more I learn, the less I know about before.

But I'm still digging deep for clues on higher ground.

Don’t forget to leave a comment in the comment section below, and if you are also taking part in Rainy Day Monday then put a link to your RDM post either in the comment section, or in the Mister Linky Widget.

Worth a thousand words...

Need I say more?

RDM #2 – Faith and Writing

In addition to pretending to be an orange fish, I also pretend to be a writer.  My pen name is David Seven.  No, it’s not my real name anymore than is Sharkbait, but it is a cool name.   I maintain a writing blog under this name called Seven’s Heaven.  The following is a post I did many months ago as part of a series called Faith and Writing.  Each post compares writing fiction with being a Christian, and looks for similarities.  I thought since I am publishing the 5th post in the series today, I would shamelessly self-promote the first one.  It’s not the best one, so you’ll have to read all the others to see how it improves.  (I recommend number 2.  It’s a doozy)

SO YOU CALL YOURSELF A WRITER?

The first point is this.  What gives me the right to call myself a writer?

While I was doing the insane NaNoWriMo thing, I used to refer to myself as a writer all the time.  To everyone.  In every conversation I had.  After all, why not?  Now many would dispute my right to call myself a writer: after all, I have never written anything professionally, much less profoundly.  So what makes me think I am a writer?

Because I write.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a writer as : a person who writes or has written something.

So I am a writer.  I am allowed to call myself a writer because I write, regardless of how bad I write, or whether my writing is of any benefit to anyone else.  I am a writer because I write, and because I have chosen to call myself a writer.  However because I choose to call myself a writer, I have to keep writing, otherwise I am just pretending.

Kind of like when we call ourselves Christians?

I call myself a Christian, although I may very well be the worst one ever.  Just as I call myself a writer because I write, I call myself a Christian because I follow Christ.  The word Christian does not imply that I am very good at it, just as the word writer implies nothing about the quality of the work I produce.  Because we live in a world that expect so much of us, we feel as if we can’t call ourselves Christians, because we are not good examples.  But that is not how it works.

John 1:12 says “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” – English Standard Version

Not, “to all who believed, and were really good at it“  So I guess there is hope for me yet.  I can call myself a writer, and a Christian… because I write, and follow Christ. 

For more information on Rainy Day Mondays, go to this post.  If you are also taking part, leave a link to your post in the comments below so we can check it out as well. 

Hope

Hope comes in the morning,

But faith gets you through the night.

(Sharkbait)

Sorry, that's all I got for you today. If you want something a little more profound...

I'm back

Did you miss me?

I have been gone since last week Thursday to the Might Men Conference '09 in Greytown, South Africa. What an experience!

The organisers estimated attendance at 200,000 before the conference. I think it was closer to 300,000 actually. But it's not about the numbers, it's about the lives being changed. On the first night, thousands (literally) of men put up their hands to make their first public confession of faith in Jesus. And on the second. And on the third day as well.

Thousands. It was amazing.

Also amazing is the faith and commitment from the farmers, who allowed their fields to go unplanted for a year, so that over 100,000 men could camp in tents, and attend one of the biggest gatherings ever seen.

The event was slightly marred by the fact that the organiser, Angus Buchan, and the man we had all come to see, collapsed at 11AM with a suspected heart-attack. What was amazing to see though was the response. 100,000 odd men gathering at the main stage area to pray for him while we waited for the helicopter to come an air-lift him. And praise the lord, the emergency helicopter went away empty. He was taken for tests, and in his own words. "They tested me a few times, and then asked me to leave" Another miracle.

I am fianlly back home, catching up with all my e-mails and a week of blog posts to comment on. I think I have finally scrubbed all the Kwa-Zulu Natal dust off of me, and am shiny and fresh again.

Faith and Writing #3 - People

Another post in the faith and writing series. Check it out

Golden Noise

So I wrote this poem a while ago, and tonight at my bible study group I started thinking about it. How often do we ignore the call for our lives, because we are afraid of what it will mean for us. Do we really want to hear GOD? Sometimes I am not sure.

In silence we hear

The Call to our own true self.

Hence the noise we make.

For more of my poetry, check out my other page, or go to fictionpress.

Faith and Writing #2 - just do it

A new post over at Seven's Heaven. What to do when faith is not fun anymore.

Faith and Writing #1

Now many of you know that in addition to running the Reef, I also write under the name of David Seven. I have a blog over at wordpress where I blog about writing, books, and related topics.

Because many of the people who know me as David Seven are not Christians, and would not be interested in long mental meanderings about theology, I try to keep the Christian posts here, and the writing posts there.

However there is a certain series I have developed over there which might be of interest to some of you as well. I am examining the similarities between writing, and our daily walk with Christ. In essence, I am looking at basic lessons I learned about being a writer from being a Christian; and truths about being a Christian I had never realised, or adequately formulated, until I thought about them as a writer.

If this is of any interest to you I suggest you pop over to Seven's Heaven, where I talk about this and many other things. I will not be re-posting these thoughts here, because they might be a little too specific for many of you. (All three who actually read this blog) I will however give a link every time I do post there on this series, or you can watch the blogroll update on my sidebar.

The first post is entitled "So you call yourself a writer?" but it could just as easily be called "So you call yourself a Christian"

Enjoy!

Or not. The choice is yours.

Salvation and Sanctification

Now I read an interesting post recently about faith and works recently entitled "The Hole Gospel: How faith killed works" and it got me thinking about a post I did once before on a similar theme, and I thought I would try and revisit it here.

In the Old Testament, we see GOD calling the Israelites out of Egypt, and promising to be their GOD. Then, once they have accepted him, he gives them all the rules to follow. Oh boy but there are rules ,and rules. And sub-rules, and exceptions. But these rules do not make the people worthy of salvation, GOD chose to save them first. Then, once he has given them salvation, he gives them the rules, not for them to earn their salvation, but for them to try and become worthy of it: A way for them to sanctify themselves, and approach him clean.

I guess the same thing with Jesus. He came to save us first, and then after his death and resurrection we are given the various 'rules' that we need to follow in order to make ourselves more 'holy'. These are ways to thank him by trying to live lives he would be proud of, not an effort to 'earn' the salvation he offered.

Ephesians 2:8 " For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it. "

To quote a cliché; we are not saved by good works, but for good works.

Because the chapter of course continues with Ephesians 2:10 "God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do."