Writing As Worship

Worship Through Kindness on Social Media

Posted by on Jun 19, 2015 in Writing As Worship

The Writing as Worship series continues, albeit not as I would have expected.

If the internet is any indication of human goodness, then let us all now agree that total depravity is indeed the default setting of our species. On a daily basis online, I encounter things I wish I didn’t, be they words, images, or ideas. Behind a facade of seeming privacy and anonymity, folks stare at screens and act as they choose, each doing and saying whatever is right in his/her own eyes. When I am online, it feels like a digital Wild West, a land of quickly drawn verbal shootings with no regard for life or human flourishing.

I’m not much of a fan of westerns.

So I’ve asked myself time and time again, “what’s a Christian’s place on this tumultuous frontier?” Frankly, I’ve found few answers, and when I rephrased the question, “what would Christ do online?” I had even less direction. So, I kept questioning and considered another framing point, “How do you want to be treated online?”

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On The Costs of Writing

Posted by on Apr 17, 2015 in Writing As Worship

Writing is work. Good writing takes effort. Great writing is difficult.

And it has a price.

Now obviously the first cost consideration is time. The clock does not stop while one’s fingers rush across the keypad. On the contrary, the minutes seem to pass all too quickly; writing rips time from the author’s grasp. While an author intends to sit for a 60-minute session before doing x,y, or z, he finds himself three hours later wondering just what happened to his afternoon or evening. He lost track of it, of course; and it was the rhythms of his work that made him do so.

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Sanctifcation and a Writer’s Revising

Posted by on Apr 3, 2015 in Writing As Worship

Sanctification is one of the most beautiful processes of the human experience. In his own time and through his own way, the Lord molds and shapes his children more into the likeness of Christ, changing beliefs and behaviors to better echoes the divine through a greater view of God, others, and self. This process may be through external trial engaging the world around us or internal conflict against our stubborn nature.

For some this process is incredibly visible–they go from hot-tempered, obscene, violent, or lecherous to patient, gentle, kind, and self-controlled. For others the process is more subtle. Their bitterness or prejudice dissipates; the arrogance of their heart softens; they find new joy regardless of environment. Smaller cues like withheld asides or offered praise provide a hint of deep transformation, though somewhat hidden. Through incremental and, often, incredibly slow changes of mind, heart, and soul, a person consistently but gradually better reflects his Savior, Jesus.

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What Are you Writing?

Posted by on Mar 19, 2015 in Writing As Worship

I often struggle with what to write and why. I sometimes wonder if others have difficulty with this to the same degree I do. Do they ask themselves why they tweet, comment on Facebook, or post a picture? Do they stop and question what value their action will have?

I inquire as to these things because I feel like I am not nearly as “active” on social media or “productive” on the blog as I should be, and these questions are often the reason. Frankly, my decision to often refrain or at least pause comes not from a desire to withdrawal or a fear of rejection but rather a very simple litmus: is this useful; will this benefit or hinder those who see it? More often than not, I find that my pithy remarks, knee-jerk responses, or banal comments would have no real value to those who encounter them. I’d just be making noise for its own sake (or vainglory, for that matter).

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On Joy and Creation

Posted by on Mar 6, 2015 in Writing As Worship

I’ve heard that the blank page is a terrifying thing to an author, not unlike a painter’s canvas. For me this is not the case. Frankly, the first draft never scares me; it’s the essential (and seemingly endless) revisions that keep me awake and stop me cold.

But that first draft—that initial act of putting passion to the page—well, that’s nothing to fear. I find it freeing and inviting, ever-so inviting. When I sit and stare at the screen or hold my pen at the paper, I have all manner of opportunity and freedom. I can simply soar, and I revel in that moment.

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