In the Beginning was- by Liz Carter

In the Beginning was the Word.

The word that sparked life, in all its glorious diversity and beauty. The Word spun worlds and weaved words through the world, and because of that we are able to seize hold of words and bend them to our own use - for beauty and hope, or for the not so good. We are word-based creatures, developing complex language which, when you stop to think, is astounding. I sometimes think about the depths and heights of language, the way that we as humans are able to communicate with one another in such profound and nuanced ways.

As writers, we have responsibility to shape something of this, to use the creativity gifted to us to take people to deeper places and lead people to greater knowledge and freedom. What a privilege, to be able to play with words and shape something beautiful, or funny, or sad, or hopeful.

In this season of Advent, I often think about how words have such power to evoke the glorious story of the gospel beginnings. The word-pictures we paint of light and shadow, of stars and angels and weakness turning into the greatest of strengths. Two passages of scripture always grab my imagination so much at this time of year:

Isaiah 9:2:

The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
    a light has dawned.

Something about these words burrows deep into the mystery of what it is to be human, of the pain we live with and the darkness we so often live under. The simplicity of it is stark - from darkness to light, a promise of more, a dawning day.So many writers love to create poetry around this simplicity, and it never fails to move me, to transport me to new places, to draw me into hope. Building on this, the words in John 1 set such a poignant scene for the greatest story on earth:

 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Again we are offered a glimpse of the most dazzling light we can imagine, as we allow ourselves to be swept up in this narrative of  a God who loves so much that he enters this world as one of us, so that the darkness will not overcome the light. I am amazed and stunned anew at the raw beauty of this story, the power of these words that spring from the Word.

We are blessed, as writers, with a gift of creativity that reflects the same creativity that formed the universe. Today, I'd like to encourage you to keep on using your gift. It's so easy to give up, at times when we feel dry, when we feel as if we have nothing to offer, as if everyone else is better than us. We look at other writers and feel like we cannot compare, therefore we should not try anymore. Or when we are rejected by agents and publishers, again and again. Yet we still carry something so unique, in the love of words we all enjoy, and the longing to see those words dance on a page. So let us not allow the disappointments to stop that dance. Let us not allow our words to shrink back into darkness, but enable them to be flooded with light, whether that means we write words for ourselves only, or for bigger audiences. Let us embrace our calling and be writers of words and writers of the Word, always seeking his face for inspiration and for the strength to carry on.

In this Advent season, may we immerse ourselves in the Word and allow the Word to breathe life into the words we offer, remembering that in all our darkness, in all our despair, in all our difficulties, the light still shines, 2,000 years later. The light that dawned that day has blazed through history, seizing our hearts and our minds, and it keeps shining. It keeps blazing. 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Liz Carter is a writer and blogger who writes about the painful and messy times in life. Her first book, Catching Contentment, has been out for a year now and she has just published this Bible Study guide to help individuals and small groups think about what contentment might mean for them.