What if you Fly?, by Sarah Sansbury

 

(Photo by Anastasiya Romanova on Unsplash)

Every now and then, I find myself crafting a poem for somebody who may not have been expecting one.

Sometimes that person is me. The words come suddenly: in the shower (inconvenient), on the bus, while out walking, when eating my porridge (that happened this morning). As I write, the lines and spaces become God’s opportunity to speak to me.

At other times, my family and friends appreciate (I hope) the personalized poems they receive from me as birthday gifts, in sympathy cards, tucked into Easter care packages from our church to vulnerable members during lockdown. I have even been known to send my poetry to total strangers and noble causes online.

Two particular experiences, one long-distance and one closer to home, come to mind today to share as an encouragement to keep on praying, listening, and writing.

The first one was in late 2019. I offered on an international Christian Facebook group to write a poem on request, free of charge, for any occasion. Five people bravely took me up on it. One asked for a poem based on favourite Bible verses. Another wanted a tribute piece to accompany a treasured photo of her loved one. Then an American lady requested something on the theme of “Renew”. (I have her permission to share this.) She wrote that she had been struggling recently with fear of change. Shortly after I emailed her the finished poem, she messaged me back, very emotional. My poem for her, “Chrysalis”, contained the line, “Who am I to think I could fly?” Four days earlier, unknown of course to me, her friend had given her a bracelet inscribed with the words, “But what if I fly?”. This new ‘God-incidence’ was the impetus she needed to take a key step towards her new venture.

(Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash)

My second “wow, God” experience came last Autumn. As a wedding anniversary gift to my husband, I wrote a song called “Now it’s our turn”. It mentioned faithful family members who had already “run the race, kept the faith”, in particular my husband’s grandparents who were missionaries in the Far East. Three weeks later, for the first time in over twenty years, we found ourselves unexpectedly visiting his grandparents’ old home, still lovingly maintained by the next generation, overflowing with treasures. As we drank tea with the family in the front drawing room, our eyes were drawn to a beautiful wall-hanging inscribed with Chinese characters. We were told that this had been a leaving gift from the grandparents’ church congregation in Singapore in the mid-1960s. Translated, it read: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith,” (St. Paul’s words from 2 Timothy 4:7). What a connection to my song! I was astonished. It seems God is good like that.

(Photo by Jake Ingle on Unsplash)

I wonder if you have experienced such moments in your own writing? They can be awe-inspiring. Sharing them with others can feel like a huge leap of faith. We sometimes fail and fall. But… what if we fly?

(Due to other commitments, this is my last post on More than Writers for a while. Thank you for your kind encouragement over the last 6 months.)