I used to set my schedule around Monk on Friday nights. In case you missed it, Monk was a detective series on the USA Network that let us follow the adventures of an obsessive-compulsive genius named Adrian Monk. There was no doubt that Monk was a detective genius. He could solve crimes no one else could solve.
When Words Catch Fire
February 21, 2018 by
When I remember the Saturday that my seven-year-old self spent in the church library while her father worked on his sermon down the hall, details are missing. I don’t know how long I was there, the name of the book that moved my imagination, or who its author was.
“How Do You Write So Much?” Tips for Aspiring Writers
February 6, 2018 by
I get folks asking me quite often, how do you write so much? I have written over twenty articles, several chapter essays, four books, and I have a few manuscripts I am working on now. Here are my seven tips.
Try Writing with Friends for Lent
January 31, 2018 by
Writing in groups creates that kind of wonder. I’ve seen it show up around classrooms tables when people who had spent their lifetimes in the same congregation share their longing for a deeper faith for the first time.
Praying with Your Pen
January 10, 2018 by
When I most need to pray, I grab a pen and a journal. Something about the physical act of writing to God opens my mind and heart in ways that surprise me. As the ink flows, so do the concerns I have carried that day, the questions I’ve pondered, and my longing to be centered again. In praying this way, I do what many writing teachers advise—keep the pen moving, never stopping it, until everything I need to say spills onto the page.
The Miracle of Creating
September 14, 2017 by
Though eager to put her vision into words, she found doubt and anxiety hovering over her. Soon she heard the cursor say, “Stop. This is too messy. Let someone more qualified, more talented, more educated do what you could never possibly do.”
Writing When It Hurts
September 13, 2017 by
Writer and activist James Baldwin concluded, “The price for pursuing any profession, or calling, is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side.” When I answered the call to preach the gospel, the invitation was delivered by one of Gabriel’s mail-angels.
Write Something Meaningful
September 6, 2017 by
I love writing. It’s rewarding to transform an idea into words that offer inspiration or clarity, or both. Certainly, no one’s writings will be the bee’s knees to one and all, but they might empower two or three. I think the odds of making a difference are in my favor when I collect the gifts given to me by Jesus and faithfully steward them.
Crappy First Drafts
March 28, 2017 by
Crappy first drafts. Anne Lamott phrases it slightly more colorfully, but that’s the gist. Can’t write? Don’t wait for the Almighty to hand you a perfectly formed manuscript from the sky. Put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and just write. Will what you write fall somewhere beneath the quality of a hundred grand emoji? Often yes. Often much less.
The Eyes of Prayer
January 10, 2017 by
French novelist Gustave Flaubert said, “The art of writing is discovering what you believe.” Writing, then, can be an exploration of one’s faith as I have found a keyboard and screen, paper and pen to be great conversation partners. If you want an answer for why I write—and I suspect the reason for many others—it is this.
Formations 02.15.2015: A New Creation
February 8, 2015 by
The apocalyptic outlook of today’s passage may be challenging for modern readers. Apocalyptic is a mindset prevalent in some circles of early Judaism and Christianity. It is not quite the same thing as prophecy.