To Sea Or Not To Sea? by Emily Owen

I apologise in advance for any typos in this blog.
My hair, having been through the ‘getting in my eyes’ stage, is delighting in its current ‘obliterating my eyes’ status.

Why, you might ask me, don’t you get a haircut?

Ah.

I live in Leicester.

I see you nodding now.

Yes, I am still in Lockdown.

In relation to the current Leicester Lockdown, a local man in the news said:

‘We’ll just have to watch while everyone else goes to the seaside.’

Perhaps, as writers, we sometimes feel in lockdown. 

We don’t seem to be moving.  

We just have to watch while everyone else goes to the metaphorical seaside of contracts, and books, and publishers, and articles.

Last week, in an online bible study group, I began looking at the book of Colossians.

Paul wrote to the Colossian Christians while he was in prison. 

He was in lockdown. 

He was going nowhere, while the world outside him carried on.

And yet, he knew what was happening in the world outside. 

He knew how to pray for them.

In the first part of Colossians chapter 1, Paul thanked God for the Colossian church as they grew in faith, and hope, and love. As he watched/heard about them, unable to be where they were – unable to be anywhere other than prison – he thanked God for them.

And he prayed for more (V9b):

 ‘...that you will have great wisdom and understanding in spiritual things.’

Often, in ACW, we see news of people signing contracts, publishing books, getting rave reviews. And we click ‘like’, or comment ‘brilliant news!’ and we celebrate with them, thanking God.

Do we, like Paul, go on to pray for more? To pray that they will know God’s blessing and enabling moving forward, whether that be in writing the contracted book, completing the article, or promoting/selling the finished work?

Paul was no stranger to lockdown.

During his lockdown, he looked out.

2 Timothy tells us that Paul also looked in. 

He didn’t ignore his own needs. 

From a time in prison, Paul wrote to Timothy, ‘Please come, ASAP.’

Please come. 

Paul was feeling alone.

Is Paul alone in that?

Hemmingway said that the writing life can be a lonely one:

Paul goes on to tell Timothy that, when he was all alone; 

‘The Lord stood with me and gave me strength.’ 

(2 Tim 4:17).

Perhaps this is a good reminder for us as writers that, when we feel our writing is in lockdown and not going anywhere, or when we feel alone as we reach for words and pen them if they come, God is standing right beside us. Giving us strength.

Whether we are at the stage of our calling that takes us to the seaside, or at the stage of watching others go to the seaside, or at the stage when we are looking up this ‘seaside thing’ in the dictionary, may we know the truth of Paul’s words in Philippians 4:13:

‘I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.’

Paul was pretty wise, really, wasn’t he? 

A good person to emulate.

Perhaps his action in Acts 18:18 is one I will mirror before too long: he had his hair cut.