Have Words Lost Their Power?

Living near the water is something I never dreamed would be on my husband’s and my horizon. Yet that is exactly what has happened. The reality is we spend quite a bit of time walking the beach.

 

 

 

 

Even on a grey morning around dawn, as it was when these photos were taken, I stand in awe and amazement. Not for creation itself, but in awe of the God who has made it all for us to enjoy. He is indeed an awesome creator God and that’s using awesome in the way it was meant to be used.
According to the dictionary awesome means ‘inspiring awe’ and awe, of course, has according to the dictionary again that element of ‘reverential fear or wonder.’  But that’s not the way I hear it used today. It seems to have passed into our common language and is used  a lot, but not exclusively, by young people, These days anything which is great or interesting is declared  'awesome.' The result is people end up describing anything from a pizza, a night out, a song, an artist, or a footballer as awesome. Every time I hear it I feel like cringing.

In Taking a Chance a novel  by Deborah Burrows, I am reading at present, one of characters says, ‘It’s words that can save the world Nellie, words that can make a real difference.’  I  agree.  But today is seems too often like words have lost that power and been devalued. Actually there seems to have been a lot of discussion lately in various places about the way words are being used.

I also started a book by an author I usually like, general fiction. The woman in the story asked what anniversary they were celebrating and the man replied. Not with, 'the first time we made love,' which would have sounded romantic and sensual.  He could even have said the first time they had sex but the author put the other crude f word in the character’s mouth.  I sounded crass and entirely unnecessary. It stopped me in my tracks. I eventually persisted for while longer but ended up not reading the book , not only for that reason but because it felt confused and I felt like I was wading my way through thick sludge.

Some words like that dreaded f word seem to be used these days prolifically. The words of Cole Porter’s song Anything Goes written well before I was born, around 1934 were prophetic saying,' ‘Authors that once knew better words now only use four letter words writing prose. Anything Goes.’ We are certainly seeing that these days.

On the other hand, I am currently reading a book God’s Panoply by Anne Hamilton and it deals a lot with words, not just English words but Hebrew and Greek words among others. I'm learning a lot. At times it even sends me looking up English words and one my dictionary didn’t even bother to include. I’d heard of subliminal but not liminal. Hands up any who can tell me the meaning of the word liminal?  Sad when the dictionary didn’t have it, though trusty Google came to the rescue and enlightened me.

It’s not always a bad thing to encounter unfamiliar words while reading. I would rather that than words which get used incorrectly are overused or that have lost their meaning.

As Christian writers, it is important that we think seriously about the words we use and how we use them. They have the power to change the world. Or they can just blend in so that we appear no different to the non Christian. It was something our guest speaker challenged us about at church this Sunday. Do our words reveal as us as children of the King? Are our words salt and light in a conversation? I might add, or on the page? Or do we just blend in with the world around us? It’s something for each of us to consider and with God’s help work through.

Dale writes fiction and poetry. Her latest novel Streets on a Map is currently available as an E book. She has also written children’s books, bible studies, Sunday school material, devotionals, and articles about marriage, home and Christian living. She is currently at work on a new novel, tentatively titled Sandstone Madonna.

 

Shedding Light

Just as there are some people who make you feel good about yourself, there are others who, without saying a word, diminish you just by the type of person they are. Someone I know is extremely enthusiastic involved in community activities, friendly and talks easily to anyone. Yet I find this person so over the top that I am overwhelmed and end up shrinking in on myself whenever they are around. It’s not that I don’t like this person. I do and wish I could be more like her. It’s not the way God meant us to be, comparing ourselves with others. Yet she makes me feel inadequate. And it’s not even a conscious decision on my part. It just happens whenever we are in close proximity. Inadequacy and inferiority rears their ugly heads. It’s like this person sucks all the life and light out of me.

When it comes to light I admit to a fascination with lighthouses. Not that I would like to live in one. I’ve read a couple of books about it and it feels like an isolating experience. But there’s something about the whole concept of a lighthouse shining light into the darkness and being a beacon and warning to sailors of the dangers in the sea that presents a beautiful picture. Here is a photo of a lighthouse taken on a recent trip further down the south coast.

 

When I read the words of Jesus where He says ‘I am the light of the world,’ I tend to picture a lighthouse, standing tall and strong and straight, guiding people on the way with its shining light.

 

I’ve read a couple of books recently which have been amazing and yet disappointing in some ways. Largely in the language used and the way characters are presented.  While the story lines were interesting, it was a challenge to read books where the morals and language go against what I believe in.  However if the story line is compelling enough I will persevere despite my own reservations. That doesn’t stop me from commenting about what I perceive to be those negative aspects in a review though. You can find my reviews at Goodreads. This is one such review http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17622847-three-hours-late?ac=1 and sometimes I post reviews on my blog. http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale/Other believers may choose a different option. They may choose to read only Christian fiction or only nonfiction. But none of us should stand in judgement on another believer if they choose differently.

When it comes to my own writing, I believe I am called to present a different perspective to that presented by the world. That doesn’t mean writing sugar coated stories where no-one has any problems, but writing realistically about the world and providing some hope. Those who are called to be followers of Jesus are called to be different. Therefore what we choose to write about and the way we write it is also called to be different, like a lighthouse shining a beacon in the darkness. Would you agree? What are you doing to shine a light in the darkness of this world?

Streets on a Map, is now available from Amazon as an E book. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=streets+on+a+map+by+dale+harcombe Dale has had seven children’s books and Kaleidoscope a collection of poetry published. She has also written bible studies and Sunday school lessons. For several years she wrote about Christian living, marriage and home related topics More information about Dale can be found at www.daleharcombe.com or on her Write and Read with Dale blog  http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale/

A Pleasing Aroma?

I adore light cotton Indian clothes. They are so pretty, cool and comfortable to wear.  Yet I rarely go into a shop that sells them.  Why? Because the majority of the shops selling them insist on filling the premises with incense and I can’t stand the overpowering smell of it. The after effects are not worth it. It makes me feel nauseous for ages afterwards. With some shops , and I am thinking of one in particular , I cannot even walk past it or go into any of the shops near it because of the pervasive smell.  I simply avoid that whole part of the shopping centre. My husband laughs. He barely registers the smell at all and doesn’t understand my problem. He obviously doesn’t have the same sensitivity to smell that I do. So if ever I get an Indian cotton skirt it is, because my darling husband has gone and bought it for me as he sometimes does for birthday or Christmas gifts. Then it gets hung in the breeze until the smell has disappeared from it.

The smell of flowers is another one that can be a problem. I love flowers, especilly if they are blue.

 

But there are two I cannot cope with. Gardenia and lavender both have a similar effect on me. I know many people claim lavender is calming and useful for relaxation. Some people sprinkle it on their pillows to induce sleep. Not in my household.  All lavender does is give me a violent headache. And as for eating lavender ice-cream and biscuits as I have read about in books, Never in a million year is that going to happen!

The whole sensitivity to smell issue started me thinking about how people react differently to things and how some smells leave a distinctly unpleasant aftertaste in the mouth.  Perhaps it’s no different with writing. What impression or aftertaste is left with readers after reading one of our blog posts or one of our books?

 Recently I read a novel which, while skilfully written, left me with a peculiar aftertaste. All I could think of was I was glad I had not lived with such a family of disagreeable and selfish people and why had I invested time in reading about such horrible people. That has actually been my reaction to a few novels lately, which is sad.

How much better it is to leave people feeling hopeful or feeling thankful for what they have. That doesn’t mean everyone in the story has to be so nice they come across as not real. That can be just as much a problem, as it is too sugary sweet.  It’s okay for characters to display negative characteristics. They need them so they are real and complex rather than one dimensional. It’s okay for them to have problems they need to work through. In fact without them and without displaying some negative characteristics at times there will probably not be much of a story. But the ending needs to leave the reader satisfied and feeling hopeful that the character has learned something. If a character doesn’t change at all during the course of a novel, then what is the point? That doesn’t mean it has to have a happy ending where every problem is solved.  Sometimes that can be unrealistic. Sometimes its better to leave some issues unresolved for the character to work on. But it does mean there should be a glimmer of hope and satisfaction.

Have you ever read a book and it’s not grabbing you but you keep reading, thinking it must get better. Then you get to the end and feel like throwing it against the wall. ‘What was the point?’ you mutter.

These days I rarely bother to keep reading unless a book involves me. All the pretty writing and beautifully constructed sentences in the world are not enough to keep me reading if I cannot engage with the characters. What we want as writers is for people to become so involved they don’t want to put the book down. They want to know about those characters and what happens to them even after the story is finished. A book that can keep people thinking about the characters after they have closed the last page is a treasure indeed.  Thankfully, I’ve read a few books like that. What a joy it is!  Isn’t that the type of effect we would like to have with our writing? I know it is with mine which is why I keep tinkering with the opening chapter and working so hard to get it right on my next novel, Sandstone Madonna. You can read a little about that work in progress on my blog. The same applies to the nonfiction project I’m working on. I need to get it right.

Don’t we want to leave a pleasing aroma behind us? In our lives and in our writing are we spreading ‘the fragrance of the knowledge’ of Jesus.  Whether we write fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose I would hope we are ‘an aroma of Christ.’ That doesn’t mean that everyone in our books has to become a Christian but we should be able to show people who clearly live out their faith and how that affects the choices they make in life, as well as those who do not and the consequences of their choices.

Some of the books that have left a positive lasting impression on me recently for different reasons are Soul Friend, Tangled Secrets, The Greenfield Legacy, The Last Runaway, Unsaid, Love Anthony, Friendship Bread, One Breath Away, and Bethlehem’s Baby Warrior.  Some are aimed at the Christian market others are secular books but they all left a beautiful aroma and something to think about behind them. I’d love to hear what books have had that effect on you recently.

 

Streets on a Map, was published by Ark House Press. Prior to that Dale has had seven children’s books and Kaleidoscope a collection of poetry published.

Along with her husband, Dale was for a time houseparent for a family of twelve boys. She has also been a manuscript assessor and book reviewer and run creative writing classes. She has also written bible studies and Sunday school lessons. For several years she wrote about Christian living, marriage and home related topics for www.families.com. She has a BA in Literary and Australian studies. More information about Dale can be found at www.daleharcombe.com or on her Write and Read with Dale blog http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale/

 

Giving Up

Giving Up

Persistence is a virtue and I am all for persisting in the face of difficulties and obstacles. But, and it is a big but,...sometimes there is just no other way forward but to give up and start again.

When I lived in Sydney a friend, knowing how I love them, bought me a jacaranda. I planted it with great hope and waited and waited for it to flower. I never saw it happen.  My husband’s job transferred to Orange and we had to move.  Pointless uprooting the jacaranda as it wouldn’t grow in that cold climate. Reluctantly I left it behind thinking at least the new owners would enjoy it when it flowered.

This is a poem I wrote about that time.

Initiated Into Blue


All November I ached
for the tiny jacaranda in my garden
that had not been initiated into blue.
I watched large jacarandas
bleaching colour from the sky.
All November I admired
their insistence, the blue larceny
that left neighbouring eucalypts
drab as tarnished pewter.
Then came December
and while Sydney jacarandas
still whispered bluely
through the streets,
we moved to cooler country
where rhododendrons purple
the parks
and elms solid as sandstone
line the streets.
But in all this town
not one tree
wears jacaranda blue.


First published Northern Perspective vol 17- 1994

Imagine my devastation a few years later when I went back and re-visited our old house and saw the new owners had ripped out my precious jacaranda.  I felt like part of me had been ripped out.

I vowed that when we left Orange I would plant a jacaranda wherever we moved. A bit over five years ago we moved to a warmer climate near the coast and I did just that. The plant was watered and fed while I waited eagerly for it to flower. It didn’t. We decided it must be in the wrong place, so we moved it to another spot in the garden and repeated the process of tending it. Another year passed and then another. It still did not flower. This year, the fifth year of waiting, I had high hopes it would be big enough to flower. But again not a flower appeared. Then we’re not sure whether it was violent winds or vandals but our little jacaranda was partly destroyed. On closer inspection my husband found it also had some sort of disease. We agreed it was hopeless. Time to face facts, this jacaranda was doomed. I had to give up on this jacaranda. It was never going to flower.

So I went up the nursery and priced another jacaranda. ‘It will flower in twelve or eighteen months,’ I was assured. Forgive me if I was sceptical. I’d heard that story before. I resolved not to buy one unelss it was already flowering. I priced a taller jacaranda and nearly had a heart attack when I heard the price. Yet it still didn’t have flower on it. But I'd learned my lesson. Needless to say it was a case of no sale.

A few days later my husband and I took off  down  for a drive down the coast. What started out sunny turned into a dreary grey day. We saw a nursery and called in. He had tall jacarandas and yes, they either had buds on them or were flowering.  With trepidation I asked the price. Imagine my delight when the price was less than quarter than that of the larger unflowering ones we had seen! What’s more the man in this nursery really seemed to know what he was talking about, as I quizzed him about the requirements and right position in the garden for the tree. Elated I choose my jacaranda and brought it home. The next day while I was out my husband took out the old misshapen tree and planted the new one. And the weather turned way hot all of a sudden. I despaired for my tree and ensured it got watered and fed often.

Imagine my joy when a couple of weeks later the buds turned into jacaranda blue flowers. I rushed out and took a photo. Sorry I tried to post a couple of pics but couldn't get it to work for some bizarre reason.

Back to the jacaranda though. It made me think about the writing life. Sometimes I have had obstacles and have pushed on with a project regardless. Other times no matter what I have tried, a poem or story refuses to work. I am faced with a choice. Either persist or give up and start on something new. At times in my life I’ve known it’s time to do what I had to with the jacaranda. I’ve had to admit defeat and start again.

Sometimes that may mean starting over on the same piece of work but looking at it from a different angle or a trying it from a different point of view. Other times, it means shelving it all together and starting a new project. The trick is to know when it is time to move on and admit defeat or just to change focus.  So my question is how do you know when to keep going or when to give up with a writing project?

 

Streets on a Map, is Dale’s latest novel. Prior to that, Dale has had seven children’s books and Kaleidoscope a collection of poetry published. She has also written bible studies and Sunday school lessons. More information about Dale can be found at www.daleharcombe.com or on her Write and Read with Dale blog http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale/

Treasured Possessions

This week I felt down about the non fiction writing project I’ve been working on. It’s started to feel like the never-ending story and still nowhere near being ready to send it off to a publisher. Of course the enemy chose that particular moment to inveigle himself in my feelings and tell me it was pointless and it would make no difference even if I finished it and got it published.

Discouraged, I looked at the cork board above my desk. That cork board, with letters pinned on it, hangs every day above my desk. Most days I hardly glance up at it. But this day I looked up and my gaze fell on a letter written to me several years ago. The letter came from the mother of a child who had read my first children’s book Chasing after the Wind.

The girl had been given the book as a birthday present. Only one problem, the girl was not a reader.

In fact, she was one of those students in the remedial reading group who had to read to someone for ten minutes each day. Knowing she had to read something, she reluctantly started on Chasing after the Wind.The novel co-incidentally starts with a girl who struggles with reading and is in a similar situation to this reluctant reader, until she encounters a friend and a book that changes her life.

It wasn’t long before the girl, like Chelsea in the story, found just reading that ten minutes a day wasn’t enough. The story had captured her and pulled her in. Probably initially because she could so relate to Chelsea, the main character in the novel. Soon, the girl was reading it every spare moment, her mother told me. For her mother and grandmother who watched this transformation it was heady stuff as this was the first book this girl had ever ‘got her in.’

This family was so excited, not only did the girl write to me a beautiful letter but her mother did as well and her grandmother came to visit when she was in the area. Reading that letter from the girl’s mother gave me a warm glow inside. I went back to the project I was working on thinking if a children’s book had that big an impact on one life, then I needed to continue to be obedient to God in what I write and that includes the current project, which is not really my project but God’s.

I was overwhelmed with love for God and how He encouraged me when I was feeling down. But why should I be surprised at that? Just as those letters to me are treasured possessions, I am God’s treasured possession. So are you.

Don’t take my word for it though. We know this because His Word tells us so. Isaiah 49:16 says
‘ See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.’ Although this was originally spoken to Israel, it is also to all of us, who are the new Israel, brought into God’s kingdom by the death of our Lord Jesus. The Father loved each one of us enough to send is only Son to die for you and for me. If that doesn’t encourage and motivate us to continue in obedience even when we are feeling down, then I don’t know what will.

Streets on a Map, Dale’s latest novel was published by Ark House Press. Prior to that, Dale has had seven children’s books and Kaleidoscope a collection of poetry published. Many poems in Kaleidoscope have been previously published in Australia’s literary magazines. She has also written bible studies and Sunday school lessons.More information about Dale can be found at www.daleharcombe.com or on her Write and Read with Dale blog http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale/

Waiting on God

by Dale Harcombe

Waiting is not my strong point. Too often I find I want God to act and I want it when I want it. Maybe some of you can relate to that. Perhaps that is why Psalm 37 is one of my favourite psalms, especially the first few verses. They remind me of several things. First is that my delight should be in the Lord. When my delight is in God then God promises to give me the desires of my heart. This is not an all encompassing idea like granting every wish. It has more to do with the fact that if I delight in the Lord, my desires will be more likely to be in tune with God and so he can easily give me the desires of my heart, because they are in line with his own.

The next verse that speaks to me from this psalm is about committing my way to the Lord. That means not making up my own mind what I will do or not do, but checking in with God first and seeing what he wants for me to do. As a writer, it is imperative that I am constantly in touch with God, finding his will for me and for my writing.

Verse 7 of Psalm 37 tells me to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him - easier said than done sometimes. For some of us, resting does not come naturally. We're all about getting in and doing things. But since God tells me to rest in him, then I need to take notice. Similarly waiting for the Lord is not always easy. My timing is often not God's timing. This was never more evident than in my writing career.

When Chasing After the Wind, my first children's book, was published I thought it would be a natural progression from there to further books with the same publisher. It didn't work out that way. Although I have had seven children's books plus a book of poetry published, it hasn't been an easy road and the books have been with several different publishers.

Even so, I longed to have a novel for adults published. For a time it never looked like it was going to happen. At that stage I was trying to get it accepted by secular publishers because I wanted it to go into secular bookshops where it would be picked up and read by non Christians. I hoped it would challenge them to think more about God. The manuscript kept coming back to me. I put it aside and kept working on other writing, namely children's fiction and poetry. But I still wanted that manuscript to see the light of day and believed God did too.

Then God convinced me to submit it again to Ark House Press. God made it clear this was his time and way for it to be published. Streets on a Map was published in December 2010 and has received excellent reviews. You can find some of those reviews here.

Even when the book was almost at the stage of being published there were delays from the anticipated date. So it was back to waiting. By that time it was too close to Christmas so I didn't hold my book launch till mid February. Initially, trying to organise a venue and catering and all the details proved to be difficult. I was tempted to wonder if it was ever going to happen. But the Lord kept reassuring me from his word. He had a plan.

Of course, as always happens when I stop and listen to God instead of charging in trying to do it on my own, it all worked out beautifully. It was without doubt the best book launch I have ever had. Included in the launch were a couple of musical items by a singer. Unaccompanied except for a soft drum beat, she sang two of the songs Abby, the main character from Streets on a Map would have sung. Some photos from the launch are up on my website http://www.daleharcombe.com/ under News.

I came to see when left to God, His ways are perfect. When we wait on him and trust him to act and leave things in his more than capable hands, things work out in his time and way. What's more, they work out better than we could ever imagine. We can be sure of this because God's Word promises this. The steps of a man (or woman) are established by the Lord and he delights in his (or her way) Psalm 37:23. What a beautiful promise and assurance to cling to!