Day 30: Writing

Yesterday, I chatted with you a bit about literature (reading). Today I'm going to talk a small bit about writing.

I enjoy writing.

I'm not really sure if you've figured that one out by now or not. I'm not slogging through forty days of writing on a blog just because I think it is good for me or something like that. I actually enjoy taking the time to put down my thoughts in the written word, and particularly, I like doing it with a keyboard since it lets my thoughts flow much faster from brain to medium.

And when I write, particularly if I am writing about some aspect of life, it always seems to go back to God. Really, it's hard to avoid it. What could possibly be more important than the all-powerful, all-loving, ruler of of the universe?

But regardless, I thought you might enjoy a little piece from one of my other writing pieces I'm working on right now. If you've read Letters to Malcom by C.S. Lewis then you've got a head start, you'll get the idea immediately. The piece is a collection of fictional letters to a good friend who now lives across the country. The setting is in the present. I figured I'd share almost an entire letter with you, since the content of this particular one has been on my mind lately. I'll let you draw your own interpretations.

(Note: This has largely not been edited so it is subject to change in the final draft)



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Dear Jacob,

Your advice is always some simple and yet so difficult. It is the paradox of Christianity. It is quite a difficult thing, as we must give up everything. And yet, it is so simple and comforting, we must merely give up everything - hand it all over. And with our giving up, we also give up our stresses and worries.

My question now becomes: what are we now holding on to that we have yet to surrender? Perhaps this question never goes away. How can we sing a song like "I Surrender All" and still go back to our lives in slavery to success. It has been such a long time since I have heard that song. Have we become more honest or merely less willing to surrender? Yes, I'm sure the real answer has something to do with the evolving nature of worship in the church, but it is an important question.

Are we unwilling to surrender?

We now stand at in front of yet another paradox. If we will only release that which we cling tightly to, we will discover we have had no need for our obsessions to begin with. I'd like to remind you of the times we have taken a fast from various pieces of the world. There was once a time when I hardly went a day without watching television (it was always my background noise). Then came the time of fasting in which I decided to stop watching for a period of time. At the end of that period I discovered how unnecessary it was! You have experienced this yourself.

Today I find one thing that I have not yet totally surrendered is my future. This ties directly into my previous letters, but is more far reaching than you might realize. As God slowly begins to paint the perfect picture of my life, I become impatient and grab the paintbrush from his hand. After I have discovered what a mess I have made of his work, I hand the paintbrush back with a "Sorry, Lord. I guess I just wanted you to paint faster." Unsurprisingly the end result is that God's will becomes even more difficult to discern and his painting takes even longer, as God now must paint over my mistakes (and perhaps even work with them) before he can begin again from where he left off. But oh, how amazing God's grace is! What a masterful painter! Let us once again mention Romans 8:28 (what a powerful verse!). With his almighty skill, he turns my smudgy mistakes into a beautiful work of artistic redemption.

I have long known that the happiest moments of my life have come when I am unconcerned about what moment should come next. But in the moment, I often forget where the source of true joy is, and attempt to grab at happiness' succulent fruit by my own power (and of course, this never works out in the end).
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See you tomorrow.