Psalm 119: 114

 

"You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word."

Psalm 119:114 (NKJ)

    I think it's cool how God is given analogies like this. Shield, hiding place, rock, tower, strength, salvation. The imagery strengthens one's understanding of God being like these things. As our hiding place, He gives us a place to go to be sheltered from the craziness of the world and just rest in Him. And as our shield, it's like He stands in front of us, putting a protective barrier between us and stones being thrown our way.
    Being our hiding place and shield, the Lord is our mighty, invincible Protector. What an awesome thing!

Well, at Least I've Got a Ball of Yarn

Untangling yarn is about as fun and easy as reorganizing boxes
in a hot, spider-infested attic.

    Failures happen. It's a generally acknowledged part of life.
    But that doesn't mean it's always easy to accept them when they happen. Non-successes are not pleasant, they are not fun, and they can frankly be really depressing.
    A little while ago, I dove into a special knitting project that I needed time set aside for. I'd waited for a while with anticipation before the timing was right, and then got to work. For hours I knit incessantly, gradually noticing the project's progress, thinking out the next step, smiling as the piece grew longer and longer. Eventually, I ecstatically decided that the knitting piece was  finally long enough, and ready to be finished.
    But somehow I made a mistake. A big one. Something that wouldn't allow me to bind off the work. I tried to mend the mistake in several ways, but it was to no avail. I couldn't fix it. The work I'd spent hours and hours on was irreparable, ruined. All that time and effort, and it was a failure. The feeling that proceeded the actualization of that was was really crummy.
    Sitting there in the lamp light, looking at the stringy catastrophe in my minds, I reviewed my options. Turning the thing into something else wasn't possible, so I had no knitting piece to salvage. And I thought, Well, I have a lesson, at least.
    Though lessons are valuable things to glean from mistakes, the thought wasn't much of a consolation at that time.
    But then I looked at the yarn in my hands again, and considered. The failed project couldn't be bound off, couldn't be made into another piece, but it could be unraveled, bound up into a ball of yarn. And reduced to that basic form, the yarn would be something I could use for a different project--or the same one, just a little shorter. It could be salvaged from this failure.
    So I started to work on that, gradually unraveling the ruin of the project, undoing every single one of the many, many stitches and frequently untangling knots that appeared in the yarn. The unraveling process was long and even boring, but I finally managed to wrap up all the yarn of the failed project into a round orb about the size of a baseball.
    So then I thought: Well, I've got a lesson and a ball of yarn.
    There's always a lesson to be learned in a failure, but I wonder how often something else can be found. Using the yarn in this failed knitting project was kind of a no-brainer, but maybe other non-successes hold things that can be utilized in the present, rather than in some possible re-attempt in the unknown future. Maybe there's always more than one thing to be salvaged from a failure, and it has to be actively sought out.
    What do you think? Have you ever salvaged something from a failure besides a lesson?

Edmund Wilson: No Two Persons

"No two persons ever read the same book."

~Edmund Wilson

    What an interesting thought! That everyone reading a book is getting their own unique perception of it.
     It's easy to imagine. Even if two readers are extremely alike in behavior and attitude, if they read the same book, they're not going to notice the exact same things as each other. One might pay more attention to the characters, while the other's focus catches on to the descriptions of the settings. One might look at dialogue intently, and the other might keep a diligent eye on the plot. If a reader likes one character in particular, they might pay more attention to them than they would to others. And if one likes to read slowly, they have a better chance at soaking in more details at once. All of these factors affect the way each reader takes in a book, and would cause their readings of it to be totally different. It would produce different opinions, or a similar opinion with different reasons for it.
    Maybe the biggest (and most fascinating) difference in reading would be that of  the author of the book and a person picking it up for the first time, don't you think? As the author re-reads their book, they would probably notice basically everything--and then some, if they had scenes that they couldn't fit into the book--to the most intricate detail. But meanwhile, as the new reader reads for the first time, they'd probably just get the first few layers of the story's plot, characters, descriptions, etc., and not notice as much as the author would. This particular difference in perceptions would be more of a positive than a downside in editing though, since a new reader's observations and thoughts are vital in showing the author what's actually written in the book, and what might need to be changed.
    Have you ever thought about this concept before, and the way it plugs into the editing process like that? Isn't it intriguing? :)

Psalm 119:93

 

"I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have given me life."

Psalm 119:93 (NKJ)

 

    The Lord's instructions are good. Healthful, helpful, wise, flawless . . . Following God's instructions always leads to doing the right thing, and it strengthens character. Plus, in following the Lord's commandments, one can avoid so many problems that making a blind decision leads to. God's precepts make life so good, and opens up so many opportunities to do good; no wonder the psalmist loves them so much! :)

God is Not a Braggart

    There's a certain passage in Exodus where the Lord makes an in-person appearance to His people. As He makes His appearance and passes before Israel, He says something to them; what He told Moses would be "the name of the LORD" in Exodus 33:19.
    "And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, 'The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression of sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation.'" (Exodus 34:6-7 NKJ)
    Quite a resume. A lot of people get somewhat puzzled the first time they read it though, because it sounds a little bit like bragging, like the Lord is going on and on about how wonderful He is. God definitely is all of these wonderful things, but He definitely is not a narcissist. Haughtiness is at the top of the Proverbs 6:17-19 list of things He hates. So why does He announce His own flawless characteristics to the people? Why not have an angel do it?
    Omission of the truth counts as deceitfulness, and God can't lie, but since Moses and the people undoubtedly already knew that Lord is righteous, a need to announce His characteristics in order to be truthful probably wasn't the reason. The Lord would also never allow His Holy Word to be polluted with a lie, including a fictional event written by someone who just wanted to "add a story" to the Bible like oral tales like Beowulf were edited over time; so that's not it either.
    Maybe the reason the Lord announced Himself like this is was an act of assurance. Because He wanted His people to know--really know--that He has all of these characteristics. To keep them and future generations from thinking of Him as only just (without mercy) or only gracious (without justice). Maybe the reason He proclaims all these wonderful things Himself is to ensure that it's not the wishful thinking of man, but that mercy, grace, patience, goodness, truthfulness, forgiveness, and justice all truly are in His character. The people knew that God can't lie, and He knew that they knew. Maybe this is the reason He chose to make the introduction Himself.
    What do you think? Have you ever wondered about this event in the Bible?

Wow, Drawing Can Actually Sometimes Be a Distraction

This is one of my sketches (sorry for the blurriness). Drawing characters
or potential characters is both fun and useful!

    Lots of writers love to draw, and love to find ways to use this gift to contribute to their writing. I'm one of them, and while I'm definitely no Picasso, drawing characters, outfits, gadgets, and settings is helpful and extremely satisfying! It's added some flavor to the stories they're based on, and given ideas for new writing pieces.
    But I've noticed that sometimes when I'm drawing, it's not for a story. And it's not a setting, character, or object that's found in my usual genres. It's not something I'd likely ever use in writing, and as I sketch it, I'm not even learning a new strategy for drawing. I'm just sketching because the subject looks nice; an entirely recreational act. That's not a bad thing, but when I could--and should--be using that time for writing, homework, or other important responsibilities . . . well, it would seem that in this situation, drawing is a serious distraction. A distraction made even more dangerous in the fact that it's easy to justify as "creative work."
    It makes one wonder--if drawing (a creative, constructive practice) can have a detrimental affect, what other activities can easily be distractions? What other artistic skill has to be used with caution?
    Maybe that's the wrong way to look at it though. The fact that drawing could become a distraction definitely doesn't mean that it always is. The problem of distraction seems to lie in a matter of context, of whether or not something else needs to be focused on instead. If a person has one hour to do anything, and they're already really good at painting, but they could use some practice with writing descriptions, spending the hour writing descriptions would probably be the more efficient choice. Whereas if the person with one free hour is horrible at painting, and wants to practice, painting would possibly be the better option.
    Of course, these are just opinions. What do you think? Have you ever had to reluctantly put off drawing (or another artistic practice) in order to focus on writing?

Psalm 147:4

 

"He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name."

Psalm 147:4 (NKJ)

    The Lord is so immeasurably incredible. The fact that He's made such a massive universe full of uncountable stars is mind-blowing in and of itself. But the fact that He's actually named every single star?
    Even if this verse is only referring to the stars that we can see from Earth, having an individual name for each star (and keeping track of them) is amazing and intricately diligent! There's so much thought He puts in every part of His creation!
    God is a good, wonderful Creator, isn't He?

Max Lucado: "Our Prayers May Be Awkward . . ."

"Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the One who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference."

~Max Lucado

    There's a really cool verse in the Word that this quote reminds me of. Romans 8:26, in the NKJ version, says that "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
    This seems to line up so perfectly with what Max Lucado is saying here, that the Lord hearing our prayers means more than our actual spoken words in the prayer. That God's ability to do things isn't limited at all to the number or eloquence of words we use when we pray to Him, but He already understands what's on our hearts (Christ said something like this in Matthew 6:8) and He knows exactly what He's going to do in response.
    God's gift of prayer is such a wonderful blessing. Speaking to Him (and knowing that He won't roll his eyes at poor word choice or stuttering) is absolutely wonderful, don't you think? :)

Special Writing Times

 

Do you prefer writing during the morning . . .

    The famous authors Ray Bradbury, Toni Morrison, C.S. Lewis, Danielle Steel, and Jack London all have at least one thing in common: they have (or had) a special writing time. They make a habit of committing certain hours of the day to writing. Some of them make sure to be up and scribbling before the sky is blue, others wait until the sun is far above the horizon, and some even wait until the moon makes an appearance to start working on their stories. During this special set time, they're able to write without interruption, giving all their attention to their craft.
    It sounds so awesome! And very productive in developing both story and skill. Each kind of writing time setting has benefits for creating a good writing environment.

 

the afternoon . . .

    Morning hours are great for writing with a fresh mind, free of distracting thoughts and memories of recent actions. Writing before the sun comes up is also cool in the fact that it's a lot quieter when everyone else is sleeping or just waking up. It's almost like a little pocket of peacefulness in life, a safe couple moments to write without needing to worry about other things.

or at night-time?


    Afternoon hours are very beneficial in how the natural daylight is usually bright. Sitting in front of a window would provide enough lighting to write by without using electricity. Writing during the daytime is also great because during the day, the mind is already pretty awake and active.

    Night hours: it's dark outside at this point, so natural lighting isn't really an option. But there is an opportunity to use candle/lamp light to write by, and I've heard that some people find this kind of lighting very inspirational and even fun. Plus, when one chooses to write at night,  everything else that had to be done is out of the way, completed, and no longer requiring attention, so one can give their absolute attention to the writing.

    Do you have a special writing time? What time of the day is it at? :)

Psalm 37:39

 

"But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in the time of trouble."

Psalm 37:39 (NKJ)

Doing the Boring Stuff First

    Lately in class, I've heard of a strategy that supposedly really helps a person get the most out of their day. It's basically looking over one's To-Do List before the day begins, making note of all the most uninteresting and difficult things, and planning to do them before anything else.
    All the boring stuff. Before anything else.
    The logic is that by doing the boring stuff first, a person will be giving their fullest mental capacity to the important task before the mind can get worn out by the rest of the day's activities. This logic is sound, and I really like the concept of getting boring work out of the way first . . .
    But using my brainpower when it's at its peak on the boring stuff? Not doing anything interesting until I've slogged through the mundane? I don't want to do that! I want to wake up and immediately do something fun, not dreary. If my waking thought in the morning is that I have to do something I'd rather not within half an hour, I'd frankly be a little depressed.
    And even if the tasks weren't as boring as much as they were just difficult, there'd still be an issue. Because I (like all other people) am an emotional, occasionally erratic human being. I can't work like a clockwork machine all the time, and certainly not every morning, because I get bored, and then discouraged, which usually results in a complete halt in the work process.
    What I need is an undeterred start; a way to wake up and be eager for the day's activities rather than frustrated at the thought of the first chore. Let me do something fun, even if it's just reading for fifteen minutes; then I'll be happy to start getting boring work out of the way.
    Yet the logic remains: starting in on the boring stuff first gets it out of the way quickest, and probably with more attention and better quality than work that's done right after something far more interesting.
    Maybe I'll adopt a sort of hybrid of the "boring stuff first" technique. Maybe on certain days I'll get the boring stuff done first, and on other days I'll do a few fun tasks beforehand.
    What about you? Do you do the boring stuff on your To-Do List first? Or do you always start the day with something fun? Which do you think is better?

Sylvia Plath and Self Doubt



"The worst enemy to creativity is self doubt."

~Sylvia Plath

    Worst enemy. Huh; what an interesting way to think of it. When I hear "worst enemy," I think of a person bent on bettering, conquering, foiling, and basically destroying their noble opponent. I imagine a worst enemy as a person, or a force of numerous people; not a tendency that one person has.
    But it makes a lot of sense. Especially since the self-doubt a lot of us experience as writers often comes as a little voice in the mind. "Hey! You can't work on that now! You won't get an ounce of quality work done!" "Don't even think of starting a new project; you'll lose interest in it after two days." "You shouldn't even bother powering on your computer; you'll probably get sucked into the Internet anyway." All those positive comments that make a person feel so light-hearted.
    Yeah, that sounds like the voice of an opponent. So if self-doubt acts as an enemy, how do we beat it? Voices like this don't go away easily, if it's even possible to get rid of them . . .
    What do we normally do with people who act like a jerk and say rude things to us?
    Personally, I think the best thing to do in that situation is to . . . well, ignore them.
    So maybe that just might work with self-doubt too. It doesn't help to pay attention to them anyway; it only inhibits progress and makes someone feel crummy. Plus, the self-doubting thoughts often take root in fear and/or bitterness. So why believe a word of what it says?
    Ignoring the voice of self-doubt; what do you think of the idea? Is it best to avoid self-doubt altogether, or do you think there's something good that can come out of it?

Proverbs 1:33

 

"'But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.'"

Proverbs 1:33 (NKJ)

    The speaker of this quote in Proverbs is a personification of wisdom; which I've heard, though the personification's female, can also be viewed as a representation of Christ, the wisest of all.
    Which gives yet another context to this comforting verse. Viewing the speaker as a personification of wisdom, it would be an exhortation to act wisely, which would keep one out of the troubles that unwise actions provoke. But in addition, if one were to look at this verse as Christ speaking, they would hear the encouraging fact that hearing and believing His words will keep us from having to be afraid of the inevitable problems in life. That absolutely trusting in God gives absolute peace.
    Have you ever thought of Proverbs's personification of wisdom as an analogy of the Lord? Do you think that's what the Father had in mind when this was written?