Passing on the Baton by Jane Clamp

image copyright thepauls.wordpress.com

Tonight is going to be a challenging one. My bed-time of choice is 9.40pm (I’m such a lightweight these days) but I shall, instead, be in Norwich Cathedral with up to 200 young people in an event called Cathedral@Night. All through the night there will be workshops and activities and I shall be leading two sessions on creative writing.

There are so many motivations for writing. We write, I think, primarily for ourselves – it’s our need to write, to express our thoughts and feelings that drives us. Not far behind, we write for a potential reader, perhaps one we can visualise and consciously aim at. Of course, too, we hope to write for God’s glory and in ways he can use. We may never know if we meet that particular target, but it doesn’t stop us trying.

But what about what our writing can unlock in others who write? I see some of this at work in our ACW small group every month. As we share the highs and lows of being a writer, and open up about our fears and hang-ups, we touch the heart of who we really are. Then, as we read what we have come up with in the exercise, or something we’ve been crafting over the recent weeks, we see something else at work. Our stumbling and our soaring connect with the dreams and aspirations of others present. What we didn’t quite pull off, someone else might use to take their WIP to another level.

I was never much of an athlete at school, despite my long legs and lean frame, but I do remember this much from sports days. In the relay race, not everyone has to be the strong one. It’s much more about strategy, making sure the first runner gets the race off to a good start and the second and third runners sustain that pace and push it on. The excitement starts when the baton is passed to the fourth and final runner. They’ve been waiting, watching, for their moment to come. They start to jog away from their starting position, like a car on the slip-lane to a motorway. Their arm is poised, ready to accept the baton without fumbling or slip. Then, their grip tightening around it, they break into full stride, proving themselves to be the faster runner as their apparent late arrival to the race translates into victory.

There will be people on your writing journey – more of a marathon than a sprint, of course – who have passed on a baton to you. Perhaps you have dropped it a few times and fear yourself disqualified. Not so. With courage you can (and must) pick it up again and make your grasp of it more secure. But keep a lookout for who you may pass it on to. If I can but keep my own eyes open, I shall be starting with some owl-like youngsters tonight.

                  

Jane Clamp is the author of Too Soon, a mother's journey through miscarriage (SPCK).

She is ACW Groups' Coordinator and leader of Brecks, Fens and Pens in West Norfolk.