Why Do You Write?

Tonight's PAGES gathering was a small one. But I expected that with the sudden change to Wednesday night and last night's snowfall making some challenging driving this evening. But, God showed up tonight in a powerful way...

We started off by reflecting on the John O'Donohue poem, "For A New Beginning." Since we are only twelve days into a new year, I thought it was appropriate. What would it look like to dive into the next twelve months and explore, further develop the gift of writing that God has given you?

I asked the question, "Why do you write?" So, we took some time and actually wrote out why we write. This was actually a very telling exercise for each of us. It became clear that I write to know. To know God. To know myself. And with so much busyness this past year, I've not taken the time to write as I once had. Because of this lack of writing in my life, I've lost time getting to know God. I've lost time getting to know myself. My soul feels it too. I must get back to writing regularly = daily. (In a future post, I'll share what I wrote and what I discovered through this exercise.)

Around Christmastime we had some intensely cold weather with driving winds. Our pipes froze. Once my husband thawed them out, he said we need to let the water drip out of the faucet so that there is activity in the pipes. This will keep them from freezing. Well, writing daily, is like the dripping faucet...it keeps the flow going and it's less likely we'll "freeze up." Needless to say, my writing pipes have been frozen shut for several months now. I feel a thaw coming on and tonight's PAGES is a big part of that.

In 2010 it's safe to say that I squandered some of the talents God has given me. Like the parable, I've taken the talents and buried them for "safe keeping." Yeah, right. I buried them because I'm lazy, because I've let life distract me from using and developing that which God has graciously given to me. In 2011, I commit to multiplying the talents given to me. One way to do this is by writing daily and I'm committing to 30 minutes each evening.

So, why do you write? Take some time and write why you write. Like me, like Ryan, maybe you'll discover something significant and be filled with gratitude for the One who gives gifts so freely and generoulsy.

Grace & peace~
deAnn