Among Christians, I believe that the concept of living by the grace of God is basic and in spite of all the disagreements that has provoked, there’s an understanding that we are, we become, and we shall be - all because of the work of Jesus Christ in bringing salvation to broken humanity. No matter what interpretation we put on it, the challenge has always been to transform theological concepts into victorious daily living. Tied in with that have been some of the thoughts shared by members of the Word Guild. They, in fact, have inspired this, my blog contribution.Loosely paraphrased, comments such as “I’m writing this because I believe that God has called me to do it,” or “write what God has put on your heart whether you get paid or not,” make me want to shout “Amen,” at least most of the time. But I may as well admit that there are occasions when writing seems to lose its spiritual luster and I wonder where God fits into the market report data sprawled across my monitor. Thankfully those times are few and far between now and I often find myself stopping to thank God for the opportunity of earning a living this way.
Part of the process of getting to that place, though, has involved looking at some of the responsibilities of the ancient Judeo-Christian authors. For example, there were the psalmists, but there were also men charged with recording the judgments of God against entire nations. Joyous events, filled with exuberance, were duly noted but so were curses and bills of divorcement. One needs look no further than the letters of the Apostle Paul to find examples of bleeding words interwoven between tender commendations.
“Then the Lord answered me and said, "Record the vision…'” (Habakkuk 2:2) The assignment was God’s; the fulfilling of it, the scribe’s.
I take great comfort in realizing the value placed upon these wielders of the pen. Anointed and called by God, they served in the world of commerce, or the judicial system, or construction, or in penning an exhortation…or of writing whatever they were called to do, whether they got paid or not.
How blessed I am - I even get to send an invoice!
3 comments:
I truly enjoyed your article on "wielders of the pen". The responsibility of carrying the message of hope and grace commands a sharp editorial pens. For those of us who are starting this journey, we look up and admire the great Canadian talent and often throw our pens down in desparation. The thing most budding pen wielders lack is Canadian mentoring. Most of my writing journey is spent with American authors on American websites. The tools are readily available and the skin pealing advise sharpens my writing. If you would shed some light on where a budding author with limited publishing credits could interact with challenging Canadian authors, I would greatly appreciate that information.
Patricia, please check out The Word Guild. http://www.thewordguild.com
Good words, Linda.
:)Marcia
www.vinemarc.com
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