Alice Valdal
For those of you who are confused by my title, that split infinitive was the signature line of the "Star Trek" television series and subsequent movies. In the early seasons the full line read "to boldly go where no man has gone before." In the more politically correct years that followed, it became "to boldly go where no one has gone before."
Boldness has never been high on my list of attributes, but through the magic of cyberspace, I've found myself in some strange new worlds. For some reason, I cannot access my dashboard from this blog site, nor can I back out of the page. The only way I can move, is to click on "next blog" until I find one that includes the button for dashboard. At first, I found this quirk annoying, but once I got pushed to this bold step, I've found "next blog" a delightful diversion. Note, I did not say waste of time, even if I do resort to it when the wip is proving difficult.
On "next blog" I've been taken to a country fair, a devotional site, a site describing the use of herbs, book review sites. I've learned that many people publish their poetry on a blog. One day blogger decided my native tongue was Spanish so I wondered for a time with only pictures as a guide. There was a fascinating knitting site with a display of gorgeous sweaters. I wish I could have read the instructions. Another day I ended up on a book sellers blog and learned that Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code is among the most unwanted book in today's market. Thousands of people, having read it, don't want to keep it on their bookshelves. There are so many copies of it around, used bookstores won't take it, libraries don't want more 'donated' copies and community centres and hospital waiting rooms are flooded with the thing. Ah, the flip side of fame and fortune : )
A quick check of the dictionary shows me a slight difference between "bold" and "courage". It seems we have courage but we are bold. One is an attribute we take hold of, the other takes hold of us. There are many examples in the Bible of followers being exhorted to "be bold for Christ", e.g. Phillippians 1:14. In fact, I stumbled across a blog with that very title.
It's summer time where I live, a time when most of us want to relax by the water, vacation with family and friends, dig into our "to be read" pile. But what if we used these long, free days to be bold? What adventures would we undertake? What new worlds would we discover? Can we be bold for Christ in new ways? Can we take a bold step in our careers?
Last week I was bold to send off a query letter. I was bold in my witness to a troubled sister. How about you? Have you been bold lately? Care to share?
Posted by Alice Valdal
