It's a New Week

Mrs Pablo Picasso is reputed to have said, “If my husband would ever meet a woman on the streets who looked like the women in his paintings, he would fall over in a dead faint.” Imagine the shock of seeing one of these ladies walking towards you— her facial features mismatched, misplaced and misaligned. Little wonder Picasso’s wife thought he would swoon at the sight of one of his creations come to life.

In contrast, if you read the first three chapters of Genesis, you'll see that when God saw all He had created, He pronounced it to be very good. He blessed the people He had brought into being and sought Adam and Eve’s companionship as He walked in the cool evening breeze.

Listen to what  Zephaniah says:
 "The Lord your God is with you, 
He is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you, 
He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 4:17 (NIV)

Let's go into this new week joyful in the knowledge that the Lord God, our Creator, loves us and takes pleasure in us.

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.

 

God's Garden

In a book I’m currently reading, Joy for Beginners, by Erica Bauermeister, one of the characters, made an interesting observation while looking at a garden planted with primarily white flowers.  She said ’You can tell so much about a person by the garden they plant.’

It made me wonder what my garden says about me. In my garden you will find lots of blue, purple, red and pink flowers but never a white one. Anything white is a weed and pulled out or given away as in the case of a white rose planted by the previous owner that used to be in the garden. When we moved in, we also rooted out the white agapanthus but kept and added to the blue.

Last week my husband and I had a few days away in what is known in Australia as the Sapphire Coast.  Here are some photos and you will see how it got its name.

 

We stayed at a place appropriately called Eden. All of the photos on this page are taken in and around Eden.

 

 

As I looked at the beauty surrounding us in God’s garden of earth I thought not just about how beautiful it was but what it reveals about its creator. Creation reveals God’s infinite majesty, his love of colour and infinite variety. What a loving God and Father we have, who created this stunning world in which we live. Who could ever doubt He has the best interests of his people at heart.  He is a giving and generous God with an eye for beauty. All of these scenes have their own unique beauty.

 

As writers each of us will write something different but we are all adding to the garden of literature and words. Some of us will write devotionals while others will write fiction whether Christian or mainstream. Some will write poetry, others children’s books or books on specialised topics like music or theology or landscaping. We may even cross over from one genre to another.

Whatever we write we need to remember that we are all different and have a different place and role in the God’s garden of life. Some plants are grown for their perfume. At this current time the scent of sweet peas, which always signifies Spring to me, waft through our house. Think sweet peas, jasmine or lilacs. Others are grown for their spectacular flowers, think orchids, dahlias and roses. It would be boring if there was only one kind of flower. Or only flowers of one colour.

Just as creation testifies to the majesty of God, each one of us is a living testimony to God. Each of us reflects the culture where we live and the experiences life has handed us. By our lives and by what we write, we are showing people the difference God can make in a life. You may be able to reach people with your life and writing in a way which I cannot. The reverse is also true. It is up to each of us to use the gifts God has given us to the best of our ability.  

 

Dale writes fiction and poetry and had recently submitted a 365 day devotional /commentary  tentatively titled A Day at a Time to a publisher. Now she's working on another novel. You can find out more about Dale at www.daleharcombe.com and you might like to follow her blog at Write and Read with Dale http://orangedale.livejournal.com/

 

DEVOTION: Made in His Image - Shirley Corder

Psalm 8:3-9 (GNB) When I look at the sky, which you have made, at the moon and the stars, which you set in their places—what are human beings, that you think of them; mere mortals, that you care for them? Yet you made them inferior only to yourself; you crowned them with glory and honor. You appointed them rulers over everything you made; you placed them over all creation: sheep and cattle, and the wild animals too; the birds and the fish and the creatures in the seas. O LORD, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the world! 

     Some years ago, my husband and I sat in our campsite in Africa, miles from civilization, and stared in awe at the night sky. The sky seemed darker, the stars brighter and far more numerous than when we looked up from our home in the city. According to people who study the heavens, more than a hundred billion stars exist in our galaxy alone—and new ones develop all the time. How can I begin to relate to the God behind such creation?
     Yet Genesis 1:27 tells me that when God created human beings, He made them to be like himself. How is this possible? My finite mind cannot comprehend anything as vast as the universe where I live, never mind the whole of creation. How can I ever be like Him?
     Yet I do share one similarity. I share his desire to create.
     As a writer, I love the freedom to create characters of diverse natures. I enjoy watching the storyline develop, and solving the occasional twists and turns that threaten to bog down the story. I look at everyday situations and compare them with passages of Scripture before turning them into devotional messages which will one day, God willing, be a blessing to others.
     My friend, a potter, turns lumps of clay into beautiful pots and ornaments. The carpenter creates elegant pieces of furniture and delicate trophies. The artist captures scenes of beauty on canvas, and the musician turns notes and rhythms into magnificent sounds. The novelist and the poet alike use words to create stories and ballades that transport the reader into another world.
     The magnitude of God’s creation exceeds our wildest imaginations. Yet when He made us in his image, He gave us a little touch of an amazing gift—the gift of creation. What a privilege to be able to create a story, an article, a meditation, a poem, that will point people to the ultimate creator.

How clearly the sky reveals God's glory! How plainly it shows what he has done! (Psalms 19:1 GNB)


Loving Creator God, when I look at the night sky I catch a fleeting glimpse of Your eternal Kingdom. ThankYou for the creative gifts You have given me. As I work on my current writing project, help me to remember I'm following Your example. May my writing, in some tiny way, reflect Your glory and show Your love for the people You created. Amen. 

THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Our talents are God’s gifts to us. What we do with them are our gifts to him.