In To The Great Wide Open......

Each time I read one of Jesus’ miracles, I am always amazed at the transformation they bring to the individual healed. They can return to their families and communities, resume work and worship. After the joy of being healed, what might they have felt about the future? Alongside the celebrations and thankfulness, might they also have felt apprehensive or overwhelmed?

I have been attending a weekly drama class near where I live. I decided to do the short course, not because I have acting aspirations, but I wanted to do something that would help me get used to public speaking in preparation for any talks I might give as a writer in the future. The course starts with a read through of a play that in later weeks the group will act out scenes from. The play chosen is Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth, A play widely acclaimed when it was first staged in 2009. It is very cleverly written, with it themes of isolation, mental health and land access slowly unfolded but it is as sweary as a Danny Dyer film and anti-establishment with its alternative living ant-hero Johnny ‘Roaster’ Bryon and his drug-taking fleckless friends.

The play is certainly pushing me, and I suspect other members of the group, out of my comfort zone as we take on the characters during the read through. As a writer, we also can find ourselves pushed beyond our comfort zone when our work is published. Many of those who were healed came to Him wanting to be healed but they too may have felt pushed out of their comfort zone upon their return to society– the bleeding woman, the man with demons, the blind man. What made them put themselves in that position? Perhaps it was their trust in God that helped them take that leap of faith and accept the changes it would bring them.

 No matter how much you wished to see your work in print when you do get that final formatted paperback or eBook file, or the actual book itself in your hands, it can be a real Yippie/Yikes moment. Maybe you get fewer ‘yikes’ with each publication. I’ll let you know.

A former vicar and community worker, Sheelagh is a freelance writer and blogger living in the northeast. You can find out more about Sheelagh here