If Only People Knew
As a writer, one of the things we get asked about is how do we get our ideas? Most writers glean ideas from the air they breathe.
That may be a slight exaggeration, but in order to be a writer a person must also be one who reads, one who observes, and one who questions.
The why we write is variable. Some write for money, others for recognition, the dream of fame and fortune. Some just have a story to tell.
Christian writers can and do write for these things but also they have in mind glorifying the creator. For a Christian writer there is an illusive quality. We want to pass on simple and not so simple truths from our Lord and Savior in a way that others will grasp the beautiful truth.
But, as the Master Bard has said, 'there is the rub'. Wanting people to be aware is not the end of our desire. We don't merely tell people 'the bridge is out on Hanover road', and then we're happy.
No, we want them to not use that road or bridge. Take action to avoid that river/situation. Alas, awareness is not action.
For the writer, we want people to be more than aware. We want them to respond and usually we have a type of response in mind.
Perhaps you can get more people to click on your video, read your tweet or see your Instagram. Ultimately, if you're selling something, such as a book, we want them to buy the book.
In a recent conversation, Buddy and I were discussing a new book with not new ideas, but ideas with new scriptural emphasis to them.
He was excited that 'this is something that would be helpful to so many people if they would listen and implement this—but so many won't listen'.
Well, I told him, just try preaching and teaching the gospel for forty— almost fifty years...
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.”
~G.K. Chesterton~
It goes back to my Grandma Magill. At one point she was helping minister to her mother-in-law in helping her to stand.
"Mother," she said, "help me to get you up. You can grab onto the doorknob there and help pull yourself up..."
"No, it's too far away. I can't," her mother-in-law said. For some reason in her perception the doorknob looked like it was a long way off, when in reality it was within less than arm's reach.
I don't know how to motivate people to reach up and grab that doorknob. I don't know how to encourage people to avoid the bridges that are out.
As I waltz through life I would like to look graceful and talented. I would like to accomplish my tasks with the appearance of finesse. Maybe others would say, 'that's what I want to be like or do like.
That would be my 'druthers', but there comes a point in the dance where you get close to the end of the matter and you realize...
What it looks like to others isn't near as important as getting it done. As I've told people, 'it may not be real pretty, but it is real, and it is done, and that in the end is what's really pretty important'.
