Shoulder Season – Lawrence

This is the shoulder season, a time when we go from winter to summer in a day then settle into spring. We go from white snow to green grass then settle into a drizzle of rain for several days.

The spring shoulder season is often grey and drab but the overcast skies and rain give the plants the moisture they need to grow and bloom. The grey dampness may not seem very interesting but it is the steadiness of which our summers are made—April showers bring forth May flowers, as the saying goes.

In the lives of writers, the shoulder season is the one where we settle in to do the bulk of our work. Before that, we have the rush of exciting ideas and the development of a story outline; after the shoulder season, we have the publishing of our book or article, play or poetry—the elation of seeing our finished work before our eyes and holding it in our hands.

But, the shoulder season—ah! that is the all important time—the steady, daily showing-up at the computer; the continuous paragraphs and chapters, written word by word, phrase by phrase, and sentence by sentence; the editing of grammar and spelling. Without this steady, repetitious, often wearisome, carrying of the yoke on our shoulders, the season of our ideas will never reach the season of its completion.

We must be strong, steady and faithful in our daily writing. To this end, we should take up Christ’s offer to share the shoulder season with him; take his yoke upon us, for his yoke is easy to bear and his burden is light. (Matthew 11: 28) There is a saying: A burden shared is a burden halved, and if we share our writing time with Christ by praying to him for guidance before we begin each day, we will certainly find that the work becomes light and joyous.

Enter in to your shoulder season of writing with Christ as your partner and discover how delightful it is to walk along your writing path when you share his yoke.

© Judith Lawrence

Read and listen to Judith’s monthly meditation on her website at www.judithlawrence.ca