Some months ago I was by myself in our church sanctuary and sat beside another lone woman. We chatted, exchanging basic facts about ourselves. When she heard heard that I was writing a novel, our brows furrowed as if confused as to why a strong Christian, passionate about bringing "what's up there down here" would spend so much time writing a story. Aren't there the poor to take care of? Broken people to heal God's healing to?
If it was non-fiction, she could understand. She reads non-fiction for enlightenment and understanding. But a story? What earthly, or heavenly, good would that do?
At that time I couldn't come up with, on the spot, answers to her questions. Now I can.
Here's three reasons I consider it worthwhile to devote time to writing - each could be an essay.
I) I write because God is a Creator. He has made me in his image. This mean to be whole I need to create. I find delight in creating as He did and does. In the Old Testament we see God giving abilities to create which are used in worship of him.
2) I write because people need stories. Stories, as well as non-fiction, inform and inspire usl When loneliness and despair washed over me my first year of living in Japan, it was not a Bible verse that kept me there, but a novel by Willa Cather. In it a Jesuit priest, in the pioneer days, stays on in Canada despite how he hates the fleas and filth in the Indian teepees, in which he lives, in order to bring the good news of God's love through Jesus. He, like me, was a lover of books and intellectually stimulating conversations, but gave that up for a time for these Indians. That model motivated me to keep making my own kind of sacrifices.
3) Through writing I've found healing and grace. It's been good for me. At times when the facts of life were too painful to contemplate, through writing I could both discover myself and lose myself, In writing I find myself saying things I can rarely say face to face. In lines written just for myself, I admit what I hadn't recognized before and confess to God my foolish, misguided heart.
Well, time to get back to novel-writing!
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