More than Writers

Try as I might, I still find it hard to empty my mind of all of those concerns that continually bounce around when I try to be quiet with God. I am too much of an activist, I think. So, some long time ago, I followed a suggestion that a prayer journal might help. If, it was suggested I wrote down my thoughts, I would stay more focused on what I wanted to take to God that morning: and hopefully also be more open to what God wanted of me. My intention at the outset was that it would be an everyday activity during my morning quiet time. That remains my intention, but even a quick flick through the pages reveals at least a few days, and sometimes more, in every month when I haven’t lived up to my own ‘ambition'. Thankfully, I firmly believe that God will be tolerant of this - even if he shares in my disappointment, which is sometimes virulent enough to make me wonder if it is worth carrying on. Then comes the ‘Will I listen to the whisperer who says it really isn’t worth it at al...

Am I viewing my life and my writing from my own restricted perspective or from God's?  What does He want me to see that I cannot perceive myself and how can I get to that point of seeing from a heavenly perspective? By nature I am a cautious person especially since my sight and hearing have deteriorated. However God put on my heart that He wanted me to have an adventurous spirit; knowing that He is always alongside me as a friend and that He has given me life that I might cherish it, not living in fear but in excitement and joy. Sometimes that fear can be so present that I opt out of starting anything new or doing things differently.  This goes with my writing too, making it sometimes feel like a huge chore, rather than a source of joy and fulfilment . So in 2014, when I turned 50 I took a mammoth step and decided to do a skydive to raise funds for a ministry trip that Marilyn and I were making to India.  The big day came in mi...

Imagine this: human beings chipping away at stone slabs; pressing wedged sticks into soft clay and baking it; drawing on pottery shards with soot and oil; brushing vegetable and mineral dyes onto beaten papyrus reeds, inscribing stretched animal skins, scraped leaf thin; making wooden frames to flood with wax and scratch its surface with pointed sticks; pounding soaked rags and vegetable matter flat and then covering it in marks…. Imagine them forming messages in pictures, in symbols, in codes, creating alphabets to carry the sound of words, turning words into patterns.  All that effort and energy so that human beings can speak their thoughts to one another. And imagine vellum scrolls, exquisitely decorated, bound with embroidered cloth, rolled around carefully carved wood. Or paper sheets, folded and sewn together, then covered with painted boards, with jewelled cloth, with tooled metal or leather. All that skill and care over creating beautiful ways for words ...

The process of Creative Writing…looking at one Christian Writer’s process NaNoWriMo is probably the place to start.   Imagine a whole month of discipline. Each day requires about 1500 words added to your tale, and you’re invited to splurge these out onto the page or screen without editing, deep soul-searching, or a thesaurus. Bliss!   But wait – there is a requirement – constancy. Commitment… you must keep going day by day, no shirking, no excuses, no procrastination! Fear not – your buddy is there to share your efforts, to cheer you on, as you will cheer her (or him, though somehow the picture of a Nano is of busy-busy women snatching an hour or two out of the day)…to write that story which has lurked so long unattended. So, are you a Nano-typical writer,   a ‘pantser’  driven by your muse – thankful that Nano comes in November, the darkest month of the year?   Or…Are you a planner (or plotter)? Carefully holding back on writing Chapter 1 at t...

I grew up in a large family, which was often made larger by extended family gatherings. I remember, on one such occasion, my aunty giving my mum a book called Five Minutes' Peace ; a book about a mum desperately trying to escape the demands of her family. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to escape. Fast forward through the years to February Half Term 2019 and me, surrounded by lovely-lively nieces and nephews, thinking, ‘I just need to escape for a minute’. I sneaked into the bathroom and locked the door behind me. Imagine, then, my shock when my niece appeared in the room. I jumped a mile, much to her delight.   Once my heart-rate had returned to normal, and my niece had stopped giggling, I asked her; ‘How did you get in here?’ With a look reserved by three-year olds for adults they deem a bit dim, she said; ‘I opened the door’. I’m deaf, so it’s not surprising I hadn’t heard the door open.   What did surprise me was that she’d opened a locke...

"...the people  who know their God  shall prove themselves strong  and shall stand firm  and do exploits for God".                 Daniel:11:32 It is becoming clear to all we live in unprecedented times.   Never in history has our world been assailed with so many inventions, innovations and scientific and medical advances that have radically changed lives.  Many years ago “Goodnight Sweetheart” was a series where Gary could travel in time and lived two lives, one in the 1940s the other in the 1990s.   In 2015 there was a one-off remake and I howled with laughter as Gary experienced the technological acceleration since 1999.   If you can find it, it’s worth watching.   Interaction with the internet brings much that is not of God and it is terrible to learn how young people searching for love and acceptance find the op...