I’ve been exploring various types of writers who would be good for Christian publishers and readers to give attention to. In previous posts, I suggested those involved with military or missionary service and young writers who can have good perspectives on how to live in the 21st century when the world is seemingly spinning off its axis more than usual.
However, throughout history, when hearts are hardened, when times are harder, and when all seems lost, it is the creative writer, poet, lyricist, and storyteller whose words silence the room when read and calm hearts, raising one’s gaze from the troubles of this world.
Creative writers are important and need to be encouraged.
If indeed King Solomon wrote the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, he was quite creative:
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him (Ecclesiastes 3:1-14, NIV).
Why are creative writers important?
Their work brings joy. Christians know the difference between happiness and joy. One is fleeting. The other is ever-present. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, so it is part of the Christian life.
They remind readers of God’s glory. Believers should ponder and focus on the glory of God. Nothing else in this life comes close. We need to be reminded of that.
Their work engages the heart. What goes on in one’s heart is of great interest to a holy God. Writing that goes further than information gets to the core of many issues troubling mankind.
They change the world’s narrative. Amid anger and strife, it is the creative who transcends.
They allow us to escape for a few moments. Yes, there is an element of escapism from life’s issues in creative writing. It’s the same with worship, when, for a short time, we live in Genesis 2 and all is as it should be.
For the other posts in this series:
Why military writers are important
Why missionary writers are important
Why young writers are important
The Readability of Your Writing
Back in dark and dismal days
when discord’s banner was unfurled,
a little book became a craze,
and a talking seagull saved the world.
Vietnam and Days of Rage,
Watts and Detroit and Kent State,
each day another bloody page
in annals of subhuman hate,
but Jonathan then fluttered in;
hard-hat and hippie, both alike
could read his pithy thoughts and grin
and let their anger take a hike
to set the stage for one and all
to dance beneath the mirrored ball.
Perhaps an exaggeration of Jonathan Livingston Seagull’s influence, but its publication in 1970 did coincidence with a cooling of the national temper, and, I think, did help pave the way for the transition from the angry music of the late 60s to the upbeat disco sound.
And if anyone’s even remotely interested, I ran the sonnet and it’s coda-paragraph above through the readability checker Steve linked to in the previous post…and got a grade level of 17.
Sigh.
Oh Andrew, how well I remember Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Thanks for the flight down memory lane!
I was listening to a well-respected agent/author yesterday extol the importance of simplification and decluttering/tightening our sentences. While that might be necessary for today’s skim-scan reader, I am frankly grateful that your grade level 17 poetry is here for those of us who like a nice chewy read. Thank you!
Karen, I’m so glad that you remember Jonathan with fondness as well!
I think that the book’s success speaks to a yearning for happiness that God has placed within us, as a default setting.
Look at children, left to themselves. Their spontaneity is not mannered, nor is it ‘childish’. It’s something society beats down in most of us, but that’s not God’s will, for ‘such is the Kingdom of Heaven’.
I really believe that we need to awaken the child within, with what we write.
The child is merely sleeping.
He is not dead.
Andrew! I loved Jonathan Livingston Seagull! I still have the sheet music for the theme song from the movie. “Dear Father, we dream. We dream! We dream! While we may.”
I need to track down the book and read it again.
Pam, I love that song, too!
I love this post, Dan. You have set a standard we should all strive for. I am another survivor of those “Dark and dismal days” Andrew. And I fear we might be approaching something like that again. Who will write the book that will heal the torn soul of the nation? We need a new Solomon or even a new Paul, someone to assure us that unity in Christ is our best hope for harmony and peace.
Maybe it’s you we need, Sy.
Great post, Dan! Thank you!
Thank you, Dan. I needed this reminder today.
Thank you, Dan, for the encouragement. I am happy, Andrew, Karen & Pam, that Jonathan Livingston Seagull’s writing speaks to your hearts! Same here.
Yes, lovely writing is definitely needed in this dark world. Thank you, Dan!
In a time where right is wrong and wrong is right, I am encouraged by your post. I am called to create content that inspires joy, cultivates hope, and uplifts the soul. Sometimes I trivialize my work when I compare it with deep, literary prose. But I pray that I will not lose sight of the impact that creative writing offers to a weary world. I believe well-crafted words have the remarkable ability to act as tenderizer to a hardened heart. Thank you for this timely encouragement, Dan.