A liturgy for writers of fiction

Photo by Álvaro Serrano on Unsplash

It all began with a liturgy for chaos. Well, I thought it was chaos, but actually it was a liturgy for moments of emergency, shared by a missionary serving in Papua New Guinea. She shared this due to the impact of the corona virus, so back in April I felt many others could benefit too so I used it as a subject for Pray Now, the weekly prayer email that I write for Wycliffe Bible translators.  

I decided to record it for our church, but then I decided to look more into liturgy, which is when I discovered this - a liturgy for morning coffee. Yep, I was as surprised as you probably are when I found it. 'Meet me, O Christ, in this stillness of morning.' Isn't that a beautiful way to start the day?

 That's how I found out about the book 'Every moment HOLY'. As the foreword by the stunning artist Andrew Peterson  says 'There are only sacred moments and moments we have forgotten are sacred … If the Gospel is true, then it matters in all of time and space - from a thousand years ago at the time of Norman conquest to ten minutes ago when I ate a cookie.' 

In a nutshell, this means liturgies for all kinds of occasions. From preparing a meal to the eve of a wedding. Putting up the Christmas tree to beginning a new book or a lament on the finishing of a beloved book. All kinds of liturgies, including a liturgy for fiction writers. It's too long for me to reproduce here but there are wonderful lines like this one …  Fill my imagination. Be to me both fire and wonder, inspiration and guide and Take these my small offerings. Take and multiply them into a story that might stir or salve, that might shape or strengthen, that might name hidden wounds or secret hopes, that might open hearts to your mysteries. 

Isn't that what we'd love our writing to do? And don't we want to write stories that will somehow awaken hearts to wonder, to beauty, to truth, to love?

Whether you write fact or fiction, I hope this has both inspired and encouraged you. Until we meet again, may your writing flow like a mighty river or babble like a brook.

Martin is a writer, baker, photographer and storyteller. He's been published in the ACW Christmas anthology and Lent devotional. He's currently honing his craft at flash fiction and you can find him on Twitter here.