From Where Does Inspiration Come? by Trevor Thorn

 From Where Does Inspiration Come? by Trevor Thorn

 

All in all, we have had very little to complain about since Lockdown. We were required to ‘shield, and live on the edge of a pleasant Cambridgeshire village. We can walk from our door to the local millennium wood and just beyond that is the River Cam with walks both towards Cambridge and towards Ely. The Cambridge walk is, at times, complicated by the enthusiasm of cyclists to enjoy the river ride which is only reasonable as the path is a designated cycle route part paid for by Sustrans, the cycle charity and grant maker.

 

However, Covid has taken its toll here in a different way. For 4 years I have been working to produce a childrens’ song book called ‘Sing of God and Science’: the agreed publication date with a significant national publisher of Christian resources was to be in June this year. But who in their right mind would launch anything that would largely depend on schools and teachers to buy? At this moment I have no idea whether it will ever see the light of day.

 

More recently, a collection I put together of resources for Creationtide (songs, poems, hymns and reflections) which a different publisher had asked me to submit to turn into an Ebook. I’m less sure of why that didn’t happen – a conversation is still ,to be had.

 

What was particularly sad about the song book was that I had what I had come to regard as a reasonable hope of being able to hitch myself to one of the book sales sites at Greenbelt – so that idea also went by the board. In my scenario, having the songbook would also be an opportunity to promote a more ambitious programme whereby the language of science began to be used in worship, thereby opening discussions on the way that science can complement the Bible in bearing witness to the many miracles of God’s glory scattered through the universe.

 

Thankfully I am not of a depressive nature but the double whammy of having high expectations of two books of my material, now still unpublished has been a very big disappointment as I’m sure every reader of this blog will understand. Mercifully, I am privileged not to have to rely on sales income to keep us afloat. It would, I think, have been devastating if that had been the case. However, whilst I have not succumbed to depression, I do feel very sad and wonder if the path I have taken in writing principally about faith and science in poetry was not what God has wanted of me. So where does that get worked out?

 

Once again I am very blessed: I have a Spiritual Director to whom I can off-load my disappointment and, I confess, just a bit of anger with God. Just last week he, my Spiritual Director and I spoke together, courtesy of Zoom. I will not bore you with all the detail but in the latter stages, after listening to my complaint, asked whether I might be able to turn my writing for a while into lament – a framework for which is readily found in the Psalms (10,42,88,130,142 I now know!). There is clear wisdom in this as it speaks to my particular mindset and the unknowns of the coronavirus world around us. 

 

That set me thinking. I wonder how many members of the Association or other Christian writers who might visit this site have a Spiritual Director. Some of you will respond to this notion by an immediate ‘That’s not part of the spirituality of my/our church’. But whether this is your reaction or not, I would urge fellow-authors to give this some thought. If, for example, you are writing contemporary fiction it may be that you would like to break new ground such as a sub-plot which addresses ‘today’ issues such as gene-modification or euthanasia or the use of personal data illegally obtained:  to have someone with whom these questions, and far more, can be discussed at a spiritual level could be truly helpful. I should, at this point, say that a well-trained Spiritual Director  (SD) is likely to explain before starting a listening programme that the term Spiritual Direction is better described as Spiritual accompaniment. Most regard their rôle as walking alongside their ‘directees’. 

 

And occasionally a Spiritual Director might suggest an idea, as mine has, which becomes an inspiration for a new direction in a writing experience.

 

If this idea does commend itself, most C of E dioceses will have provision for finding a spiritual director. In most cases the people leading such initiatives will be entirely willing to provide names of local SD’s to members of other denominations. In our diocese (Ely) it is, I’m delighted to say a two way situation: my SD is a Baptist whilst I am a Lay Minister of the Anglican church, it is a truly ecumenical ministry and that in itself is something to be grateful for.

The next step would typically be an initial meeting for each to consider whether a link would have the potential of being helpful. Some Spiritual Directors make a charge - but that is by no means universal. Clearly that needs to be established from the outset.

I hope some readers of this blog, might at least, consider the possibility. It could have far reaching consequences and open up quite unexpected trains of thought.