“Listening to my life for whatever of meaning, of holiness, of God there may be in it to hear.” ~ Frederick Buechner

On the heels of yesterday’s post, comfort met me through the thoughtful ponderings of my friend, Ann. At Holy Experience of Listening, you can sense the rhythm of this writer’s heart:

“Indifferent to the lateness of the hour or the weariness of the body, I need to come and sit here, press these keys and watch letters shuffle into words on the screen. It is my streak across space, falling into words and landing softly.

I tell no one of these rendezvous with 26 letters. Like the Perseids, this act of dancing with curves and lines occurs in the out-of-the way hours, unbeknownst to they who call me daughter, friend. Day dawns, the bell tolls, and I slip away home.

Every apprentice knows, painfully so, of the chasm to be crossed in the journey towards skill. Loose and awkward, my knitting of words is not something to be paraded. And who would understand?

“You are the mother of six—you don’t think your life full enough? And writing? Maybe gardening, baking, quilting…but writing? What kind of a product is that?”

But as Ann says, writing is not about product, but process. Listen further as she shares a timely insight from Henri Nouwen:

“Writing is a process in which we discover what lives in us. The writing itself reveals what is alive. The deepest satisfaction of writing is precisely that it opens up new spaces within us of which we were not aware before we started to write…To write is to embark on a journey whose final destination we do not know.”

Why do we keep returning to the midnight oil? Does anyone understand those of us who, day after day, are drawn to probe and ponder?

Probably not, but according to Ann, that’s okay.

Thank you, Ann. Keep writing. Someone does understand!

“It’s no secret that Christian artists feel isolated at most evangelical churches today” ~ Mary Yerkes

In a recent post on Artists and the Church, Mary Yerkes draws from her own 20-year struggle with churches that encouraged involvement with primarily the performing arts. “The literary arts are nonexistent, and those churches that do recognize literary art, reduce it to a few written testimonies in church newsletters,” she writes. Consequently, if we aren’t performing artists, we’re apt to feel left on the fringes, isolated, and “lacking a sense of place” in our home church.

Have any of you felt this?

Rather than become critical, cynical, or leave the church, Mary shares how we can resolve our inner conflict on the matter:

1. Understand that creativity and art is a gift of God, whether it is acknowledged and received by members of your church or not.

“Then Moses said to the sons of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge and in all craftsmanship; to make designs for working in gold and in silver and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings and in the carving of wood, so as to perform in every inventive work. “He also has put in his heart to teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with skill to perform every work of an engraver and of a designer and of an embroiderer, in blue and in purple and in scarlet material, and in fine linen, and of a weaver, as performers of every work and makers of designs. ~ Exodus 30:30-35

2. As artists, gifted by God, we have a biblical responsibility to develop and nurture our talent.

3. Every believer is to be actively involved in a local body. Whether we feel we “fit” or not, God calls us to actively participate in a local body of believers, to faithfully pray for our pastoral leadership, and to invest our time and resources into our church body.

4. Community is a non-negotiable for Christian artists. We need to interact with other Christian artists to thrive. If we’re unable to find other artists within our church bodies, I believe we need to seek God to connect us with Christian artists through other local and national organizations.

5. Work to introduce more diversity in the arts into your local congregation.

Whether or not our particular giftings are understood or appreciated, we still have a responsibility to express them as He leads. Thank you, Mary, for posting on this important topic. I’m sure it will help many.

Check out Mary’s blogs: Away With Words and Releasing the Artist Within.

Art, when it is honest, questioning, and captivating, has a unique and ineffable quality that leads us toward God.” ~ Brett McCracken

“We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.” ~ John F. Kennedy

“Risk being unliked. Tell the truth as you understand it. If you’re a writer, you have a moral obligation to do this. And it is a revolutionary act—truth is always subversive.” ~ Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

“A work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line.” ~ Joseph Conrad

“To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts; such is the obligation of the artist.” ~ Robert Schumann

This from Utmost Christian Writers:

“We have received some excellent entries for our Novice Christian Poetry Contest, but we had hoped for a much greater response. The number of entries has not met our expectations. All prizes will be awarded in this contest regardless of how few poems are entered. The deadline for mailing your entry is August 31.

This major contest for Christian poets dispersed almost $4,000 in cash to poets of Christian faith in April 2006. This contest is for poets who are unpublished.

Total Prizes: $1750.00
FIRST PRIZE: $500.00
SECOND PRIZE: $300.00
THIRD PRIZE: $100.00

HONORABLE MENTIONS (12): $50.00 each

BEST RHYMING POEM: $250.00

Don’t delay! Deadline is August 31, 2006. $10 entry fee.

For guidelines, go here.

Congratulations to Violet Nesdoly of Surrey, British Columbia, Utmost Christian Writers Foundation’s International Christian Poet Laureate. Violet was selected from a number of applicants by the Utmost Board of Directors. Violet serves as Poet Laureate until Spring 2007.

“Small numbers make no difference to God. There is nothing small if God is in it.” ~ Dwight L. Moody

My friend, Mary Yerkes, has an excellent post at The Artist’s Way, entitled, “Writing for Publication is a Marathon, Not a Sprint.”

I’m entering into a new phase in my writing. Initially, I spent every free moment working on a new devotional or article for publication, neglecting my health and, sometimes, even my husband (blush). Granted, we all push a little harder with a deadline looming, but that should be the exception not our standard mode of operating. I was running on full steam every day–not a sustainable pace.

I’ve suffered mental and physical exhaustion from simply sitting at my computer for too many hours a day, all in an effort to “produce.” Like Mary says, “it’s easy to get caught up in the publishing machine and measure our success by the number of clips we have or how much work we produce.” But that’s not God’s intent. Burning the candle at both ends is never healthy or productive in the long run.

If writing is a marathon, maybe we need to pace ourselves. For the rest of Mary’s enlightening post, go here .

“The 7th Annual Writer’s Digest Short-Short Story Competition is accepting entries! We’re looking for fiction that’s bold, brilliant … but brief. Send us your best in 1,500 words or less. But don’t be too long about it—the deadline is December 1, 2006.”

The Grand-Prize winner will receive $3,000 (that’s $2—or more—per word).

PRIZES:
First Place: $3,000
Second Place: $1,500
Third Place: $500
Fourth Through Tenth Place: $100
Eleventh Through Twenty-Fifth Place: $50 gift certificate for Writer’s Digest Books

For more details, go to Writer’s Digest , then get busy!