The Beauty of Words

by Anusha Atukorala

I was eleven years old when I first read “Anne of Green Gables”. It was a book like no other! I was hooked. Totally! So of course, in no time at all, I’d feasted on the entire series, smacking my reader’s lips over every morsel, relishing every word, hungry for more, a child who’d not had a decent meal for a week and couldn’t get enough soul-food in! My heart was filled to overflowing, with a story seeped in beauty and wonder and the love of life. Anne fans would understand, I know. Since then, as you might guess, I’ve read through the entire series countless times.

A few weeks ago, I was hunting for an audio book to enjoy. Usually, when doing boring chores around the house, it seems a good time to fill my soul with eternal treasures so I choose Christian books. I found the audio version of Anne of Green Gables on offer, so I decided to give it a go. How I revelled in it ... and surprisingly, I enjoyed even more than when I’d read the book from cover to cover. Rachel McAdams did a perfect job of reading it. 

The exquisiteness of L.M. Montgomery’s words filled me with joy, her themes revived me and the relationships she’d created blessed me. For days after I finished it, I continued to savour it. It is a story that contains beauty, humour, life, varying seasons, courage, forgiveness, love. And more. Beauty, truth and goodness.

 

So what is my takeaway as a reader? 

What is my takeaway as a writer?

Despite it not strictly being Christian fiction, the timeless truths of Jesus and His loving plans for His world, resonated in every page,  ‘Anne of Green Gables’ expressed eloquently that our lives are filled with of all kinds of everything. Seasons of growth and learning, quieter seasons when nothing grand occurs. There are seasons of joy but also seasons of pain. There was the sweetness of Anne winning the Avery scholarship and the delight it brought her and Matthew and Marilla. But very soon after, too soon in fact, her beloved Matthew died. I shed tears for them. Our writing lives too have many seasons, as you have no doubt discovered. Creativity one moment. A dead end the next!

I enjoyed 10 grand years being a writer on steroids, enjoying every moment, until my chronic illness got so bad, that I couldn’t do much –  on days I had time to write, my fatigue and pain didn’t give my brain any ability to function. That started 9 ½ years ago. This past year, I’ve responded to God’s call to get back in harness, so I pray He will give me more energetic days which I can put to good use, both in writing and in blessing His world. In fact, by faith, I’ve booked for the Omega Writer’s conference in October! And Yay! I am so excited!

I wonder what your own season is like, dear writer friend? I’d like to re-assure you that all of it matters – the thriving times, the sleepy times, the arid times, the hard times, the good times, the creative juice flowing times. All of it! In God’s economy, nothing is wasted. In my almost 10 years of doing less, God has been working in me … and I have collected plenty of research I can use in my next book or two. Or three. I’d love to encourage anyone who has been struggling. Better days are ahead. No matter what today looks like, our faithful God continues to walk beside you and work out His plans for you, even if they are different to your own.

As a reader, I learnt from Anne of Green Gables, that you can shout out what God is like through your story, without mentioning Him often. Lucy Maud Montgomery had a wonderful gift, not just in the delightful stories that she weaved in her head, but also, having at her fingertips, words that enthral and create enchanting pictures in our mind’s eyes. It was like cool water, that refreshed me. I laughed aloud, far more than I’d done when reading the book. I realised again, the beauty of words and ideas. The Word of God is alive today. And His divine life permeates each of us writers, so we can communicate His words to His world. 

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness." 2 Peter 1:3

 

Anne was transformed from a chattering, emotional, expressive little 11 year old to a thoughtful, caring, beautiful 16 year old by the time the book ended. Her own story was transformed when she learn to forgive Gilbert and a beautiful friendship she'd thwarted for far too long, was begun. Transformation. For us, believers, that’s surely what life is about, don’t you think? When Jesus transforms us from the inside out, the words we share and the books we write will be transformed as well. Which means that if God is keeping you on the backburner for a little while, it’s OK. He knows what He is doing.

I believe He is working all things together for good in your life and in mine, just as He promises, to all who love Him. And so dear friend, let’s use the words, ideas, stories that God’s given us, to build God’s kingdom, one day at a time. One sentence at a time. One prayer at a time. And may all that we write, be used by Jesus to glorify His Name, as we yield our pens to Him, the Author of each of our stories. 

Anusha’s been on many interesting detours in life, as a lab technician, a computer programmer, a full time Mum, a full time volunteer, a charity director, a full time job chaser, until one golden day (or was it a dark moonless night?) God tapped her on her shoulder and called her to write for Him. She has never recovered from the joy it brought her. She loves to see others enjoying life with Jesus and does her mite to hurry the process in her world through her writing and through her life. The goodness of God is her theme song through each season, as she dances in the rain with Jesus.

 

Her first book Enjoying the Journey contains 75 little God stories that will bring you closer to your Creator. Her 2^nd book ‘Dancing in the Rain’ brings you hope and comfort for life’s soggy seasons. Her 3rd book, ‘Sharing the Journey’ is a sequel to 'Enjoying the Journey'.

                                             

'

Do drop in on her two websites to say G’day! She’d love to connect with you.

Dancing in the Rain 

Light in the Darkness 

 

 

 

Enjoying Hot Water!

by Anusha Atukorala 

April was an interesting month. I’d recently been diagnosed with a heart condition that could be serious, so I was sent off for a battery of tests – expensive ones at that – a halter monitor for 2 weeks, a CAT scan, an MRI and more. What fun! Not! I was dismayed at the thought of being forced to spend two days with a zero caffeine intake! My energy levels were about one tenth of what I needed most days … and that was if I was fortunate. Other days, it went into minus figures! Help! I need my caffeine!

 

On the day of my MRI, I found a perfect drink to replace my morning cuppa. No! It wasn’t a herbal tea. I simply filled a mug with piping hot water and sipped it slowly, as if I was drinking heaven’s nectar! Believe it or not, I enjoyed it. I really did. It was no replacement for caffeine of course, but I loved my delicious zero calorie drink. And, you will be happy to note that I got through those two caffeine free days pretty well … snoozing comfortably through my MRI, since I was so sleepy. It was all good.

 

I recalled then that years ago, a friend had been appalled that then too, I had sipped hot water on occasion. I did it only because my friend drank numerous mugs of coffee when she visited – but my temperamental tum could only tolerate one cup of tea a day. So I sipped hot water just to keep her company. Iris (not her real name) had had a bad experience with a family member who did the same. This woman had been nasty. My dear friend was triggered every time I sipped hot water – perhaps she thought I must be then, according to the hot water theory, as evil as her sister in law? Oh oh!

 

Sometimes I am in Hot Water! Literally so, as I stand under a steaming hot shower and relax under its deluge – but … also … figuratively! Listen to James 1:2-4 on the subject. 

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” 

That kind of Hot water? Oh no!

I’ve in fact just been through a challenging season in ultra-hot water … where debilitating fatigue and debilitating pain impacted my creativity big time. I love composing worship songs, which helps get me into flow, and therefore is good for my well-being, but I haven’t had the energy to sit at the piano. 

My Season of adversity was hard. Way too hard! However … I have also learnt so much in the process and my character was immersed in a learning curve, like a tea bag in hot water leaking all that delicious caffeine out, due to the 100 degree heat. During my tough season, God’s presence and reality has become more real and glorious – a steady beacon of hope, joy and beauty – Jesus was my Lighthouse who shone bright on choppy seas.

 

Recently, I discovered the benefits of my Hot Water Season, after my pastor asked me to share my testimony at church of 50 years with Jesus. I loved sharing, but I had a little problem. A good one! I’d effortlessly filled 16 pages of what I wanted to share (and could have written so much more). However, the message had to be only 20 minutes long, so reluctantly, I pruned it down to 6 1/2 pages! (Clever me! Perhaps I am a good editor?) I found then, that my season of doing only a little writing was a time of research! I’ve journaled a great deal these eight years, so my computer is bulging with material. 

 

Perhaps all this hot water I’ve been dunked in, will lead to the birth of my next book? And the one after? And more? Hope springs eternal – I pray fervently that 2025 is my year of comeback with a return of good health. Today, in faith I praise my God who does all things well – and whose ways are perfect, knowing that good will come out of all the enemy threw my way. I thank God that He uses everything. yes, everything, for good as we trust in Jesus and seek His face.

 

The hotness of the water I sipped was perfect for my tummy, because warmth helps digestion. Water is good for me because hydration is vital for my wellbeing. Likewise – the hotness of my past season only heightened the precious love of Jesus and brought Him closer to me. The water I was dunked in, cleansed me from the inside out, to create a better me! It’s therefore been a wonderful season, really! And now my heart is bursting to share more of God. This little writer may just be ready to hatch from her cocoon, and to fly high, so she could sprinkle more of God’s beauty, truth and goodness around her!  

What about you, dear friend? How much hot water have you been seeped in, of late? Not too much, I hope? I trust your present season is bright and beautiful and that your creativity continues to fill our world. Let’s do what we can, knowing that with God, all things are possible and that He turns our mourning into dancing, our ashes into beauty and tough times into God-exalting stories that will enrich our world!

Anusha’s been on many interesting detours in life, as a lab technician, a computer programmer, a full time Mum, a full time volunteer, a charity director, a full time job chaser, until one golden day (or was it a dark moonless night?) God tapped her on her shoulder and called her to write for Him. She has never recovered from the joy it brought her. She loves to see others enjoying life with Jesus and does her mite to hurry the process in her world through her writing and through her life. 

The goodness of God is her theme song through each season, 

as she dances in the rain with Jesus.

 

Her first book 'Enjoying the Journey' contains 75 little God stories that will bring you closer to your Creator. Her next book ‘Dancing in the Rain’ brings you hope and comfort for life’s soggy seasons and is dear to her heart. Her third book, ‘Sharing the Journey’ is a sequel to 'Enjoying the Journey'.

 

Do drop in on her two websites to say G’day! She’d love to connect with you.

Dancing in the Rain 

Light in the Darkness 

A Hope is only a Dream until written down - by Jo Wanmer

 A Hope is only a dream until written down...and then it becomes a goal. It obtains substance. As the good book says, 'Faith is the substance of things hoped for.' Faith activated makes things happen.

 

Many years ago I attended a business conference with my husband. The speaker challenged us to set a goal for two years time. She taught us how to set goals every week for fifty weeks to make sure it happened. What was my goal? What did I want to be doing in two years time. Not having a business, I set a goal to preach. It was my calling, but I had little opportunity to exercise my gift.

I put pen to paper and wrote down the dream -  to preach ten times in the next two years. It became a goal. I made a simple chart and marked off every five weeks.The task was to prepare one sermon in each time frame. I added the task to my calender and largely forgot the idea. When the reminders popped up, I'd outline a sermon in my journal using revelation the Lord had given me. 

The strangest thing happened. About five months before the two year mark, I had preached one sermon, maybe two. I wasn't paying close attention. Then our pastor resigned suddenly. The leadership asked me to preach and organise other speakers. And yes, by the time the fifty weeks was up I'd preached ten times or more. How did that happen?

We must move our hopes and dreams, even our callings from God, into definite written goals. 

In my last blog here on 30th May, I wrote about Goals and Deadlines. I shared the steps I was creating to achieve publication. The timeline for my efforts was the Omega conference in Sydney. I'd booked. I was determined to use it to learn enough and make the connections to be published.

Life intervened, as life always does. A wedding was scheduled for the same weekend leaving me with a difficult choice. I cancelled the conference and left my goals floundering without a time line. However I pushed on, fulfillng tasks, editing, determined to get at least one book published.

Sometimes fulfillment comes in unexpected ways. If your eye is firmly on the goal, it manifests even from a different direction. Now, two months after I publically declared my determination to see my books printed, I have an agreement with a publisher. A publisher who produces a polished, professional product. Maybe, just maybe, it will be out by the end of the year. 

As excited as I am about this, it has spurred me to greater goals. Two books published a year is the new goal. And I must keep on writing more, so I've decided to join NaNoWriMo in November. At the moment my brian is locked in editing mode, but I have a date to release the creative side of me. It is another positive goal.

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force. Matt 11:12

Our writings are a part of the growth of the Kingdom. Jesus looked for men and women of violence to take it by force. In some little way, I think our determination is helping this task.

What is your goal? Have you written it down? Put it on the wall where you see it often. 

My husband pinned a picture of a car on a corkboard. I took no notice. Then one day we decided to buy a new vehicle before the end of June. He was busy. Armed with his instructions I bought a Honda taking the only car they had available. When I drove it home, he pointed to the corkboard. It showed the exact same car, down to every detail - model, leather seats, sun roof and colour. There is such power in a written, activated goal.

Do you have similar stories? Please share them in the comments.

Jo Wanmer lives in Qld with Steve, her husband of 53 years. Her greatest achievement is 9 great grandchildren under five! She writes out of her passion to bring a dynamic faith and daily experience of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to her readers. God loves everyone of them and is waiting to embrace them, chat with them and laugh together.

Her first book, Though the Bud be Bruised, won a Caleb award in 2012. The next book is entitled El Shaddai, the book where God is a character. 

Things are Not what they Seem!

by Anusha Atukorala

When Covid came to visit South Australia, I settled down to a long season of hibernation, like a sleepy old bear at dead of winter. My only trips outdoors were to the supermarket or for exercise. No church. No coffees with friends. No nothing. Last September, Covid knocked on my door and then squashed me flat for several months! Once I got better, I was surprised to find, that like stumbling across a bright red rose in the middle of a scorching desert, Covid had brought with it a number of unexpected blessings. For a start, I now had the greenlight to step out of my front door and to start doing life again. 

What a precious gift!

God had led me out of my former church - and it was time to find a new one. After visiting several churches, I was a little discouraged. Would I ever find a church that was right for me? Silly question and I should have known better. God is always faithful. The first time I visited my now church home, they had a service of celebration, with God as the focus – not our human agendas but Jesus alone! Of course, it was the right home church for me. 

Thank You God!

Recently, I was delighted to hear of a prayer initiative at church which would span four consecutive weeks. The mid-day time slot worked well for me, so on the first Wednesday, I drove to church excitedly, spotting numerous cars in the car park. I thrilled to the fact that so many had turned up to pray. When I went into the sanctuary, though, it was empty. One of the pastors came out … only two of us were present for that lunch time prayer-session. I’d been fooled by the cars in the car park. Apparently they were there for a weight watchers session next door! Very disappointing!

It’s easy to draw the wrong conclusions through outward appearances, isn’t it? In reality, it turned out to be a wonderful God-exalting time of praise and prayer. A holy hour it was! I can now vouch for the fact that sometimes, two is the best number after all.

If two of you shall agree on earth concerning anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in Heaven. Matthew 18:19-20  

Thank You Jesus!

Dear friend, how are you doing today? Has life bashed you around ... like a delicate silk scarf being tossed around in a dryer? I do understand. Life happens, often with its own ideas of fair play, leaving you and me gasping for breath and scratching our heads in bewilderment. But here’s the thing. What we might think is no progress as Christian writers may actually be our best stint after all. As we writers know so well, often, things are not what they seem! It's true in the stories we write and it happens in real life too! The problem is that while I enjoy plot twists in the novels I read, I don't relish those plot twists in my own life. 

God is at work behind the scenes in ways you and I have no idea. Against my better inclination, I have been forced to concentrate on my health issues for a number of years, so my writing has taken a back seat. But what seemed to be years of little output are in retrospect years of research. His plans … ah! They are the good ones. They are the best ones. I’ve spent hours at His feet, seeking Him, finding Him and learning all about living well and what life in the kingdom of God looks like. What better way to get ideas and input for my next book than through life’s training school? Thank You God!

So tell me, dear friend, what has your journey been like in the last year or two? If your progress has not been as fast as you’d like, a New Year might be the right time to change that? Don’t be fooled by the enemy’s proposal that it’s too late. Not true. He’s the Father of lies, so don’t believe him. Are you discouraged at the lack of your book sales? (I hear you! It’s time I did something about mine. Arrrrgh!) Do you feel a failure? You are never a failure when you’ve been obedient to what He’s called you to do. Success in the world’s terms and God’s are very different, as different as a stagnant pool compares to a swirling stream.

Do you think that you’ve little to offer the world? Now that's the enemy’s voice! Who you are and what you do matters! It matters a lot. 2023 might just be your best year yet. He has good plans for you. Your path might look different to others’. But that’s totally okay. It’s only in eternity that you will understand what God did, with what you may think were detours or wasted hours and years.

Is God writing a different story through your life than what you envisaged or hoped for? Are you tempted to take back His pen into your own hand? Let’s not be fooled by the enemy’s whispers, whenever trouble dogs our steps. God’s Authorship is one we can trust. It may look as if He’s not in control but we know better, don’t we? We can trust His Word. We can trust Him to write a page-turner in and through our lives.

Let’s pick up our pens and write as He leads. He will bless the world through our yielded hearts. If you feel down or discouraged, do know that God’s got you in His mighty Hands. The Holy Spirit goes before you. He sings songs of deliverance over you today. And as you trust Him, He will use you this New Year, 2023 to bring His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

Keep writing. Keep living.

Keep being YOU!

The world needs you. And God does too!

Anusha’s been on many interesting detours in life, as a lab technician, a computer programmer, a full time Mum, a full time volunteer, a charity director, a full time job chaser, until one golden day (or was it a dark moonless night?) God tapped her on her shoulder and called her to write for Him. She has never recovered from the joy it brought her. She loves to see others enjoying life with Jesus and does her mite to hurry the process in her world through her writing and through her life. The goodness of God is her theme song through each season, as she dances in the rain with Jesus.

Her first book Enjoying the Journey contains 75 little God stories that will bring you closer to your Creator. Her 2^nd book ‘Dancing in the Rain’ brings you hope and comfort for life’s soggy seasons. Her 3rd book, ‘Sharing the Journey’ is a sequel to 'Enjoying the Journey'.

 

Do drop in on her two websites to say G’day! She’d love to connect with you.

Dancing in the Rain - https://anusha-atukorala.webnode.page/

Light in the Darkness- https://light-in-the-darkness00.webnode.page/

IT IS ENOUGH- A HANDFUL OF FLOUR AND A LITTLE OIL by Marion Kilchester

             

A call had been made from our Pastor, to come to the front of the church if we needed prayer. Being the independent soul that I am, I remained seated. There are many with greater needs than mine. So, I sat, but tears welled in my eyes, and I couldn’t hold them back. I stood and made my way to the front.

      My very close friend of thirty-four years, Eileen was dying in Toowoomba, and I made the three-hour trip to spend time with her and her family. She was the third very close friend, as well as my beautiful sister-in-law who had all recently passed away.

      A telephone call came, asking me to play for the funeral of the father of my hairdresser. She was also the mother of three students who I had taught over the years, one of them to diploma level. I said ‘yes’. My two nieces and nephew had lost their parents recently, and now called on me in hard times. Vikki’s husband had just undergone eight hours of heart surgery, the day before I found myself in tears at the front of the church. He was not expected to live, and then my next-door neighbour died two days before Eileen’s funeral.

      I knew they all needed me, but I was overwhelmed. It was too much.

      My Pastor held me by my shoulders and began speaking. I don’t remember everything he said, but one thing he told me seemed to me, as though it was written in neon lights.

     ‘Marion, do you remember the widow at Zarapeth?’ He then went on to recall the story. There was famine in the land. She had gone out to gather a few sticks to make a fire and cook a meal, the last meal, for herself and her son and then they would die for that was all she had left. She had come to the end of what she had and was at that place of desperate need.

      Elijah had turned up and requested some water to drink and a piece of bread.

      She replied, ‘I don’t have any bread, just a handful of flour and a little oil, just enough to make a meal for my son and myself’, but Elijah told her to go, make a loaf for him, and then prepare for herself and her son. He told her, ‘The flour and oil will not fail, until the rains come.’

      She was overwhelmed already, but she was asked to give more. She had to exercise faith, she had to be obedient. She chose to do both and made the bread for Elijah. God came through for her and there was still enough for her to prepare bread for herself and her son.  Day by day she took from the jar of flour and the jug of oil and prepared a meal for the three of them, as God provided the requirements needed to do so.

      If she could do this, then I also could do what I needed to do. No longer overwhelmed, I was able to meet the demands on me. I was at peace. My nephew received a miracle and lived. I went to all three funerals in the space of about ten days.

      I know that many of you are struggling with life’s obstacles, while at the same time, striving to be obedient to your calling to write and whatever else.

 

     Marion Kilchester published her first book, 'Though the Storms Rage, yet I will dance in the rain'. Her second book, 'Ludmila's Story', is in its final stages.  As she is nearly seventy-five, technology really bamboozles her. There are many experienced writers here . She feels she's not qualified to  talk about how to write to many with far more expertise than her in these areas. So she has shared from her own faith walk.

      Her webpage is called ‘www.leavesof hope.com.au’ bringing hope in a loving God and His faithfulness, which she can give.  She loves to encourage other writers and runs a small writer's group.

Marion lives in the northern outskirts of Caboolture with her littel dog, Hope. She is surrounded by family and friends.

                                                                                

                                                                                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Marion Kilchester is a mum and grandmother. At 75, she loves spending time with family and friends and her little dog, Hope.

    

     Having taught classroom music and piano, now in her retirement, she published her first book, Though the Storms Rage Yet Will I Dance in 2021. Marion has just completed her second book, a biography about her mother-in-law, Ludmila, who grew up and survived in The Ukraine, under the rule of Stalin, before finding herself transported in a ‘cattle-train’ to a forced-labour-camp in Germany, under the rule of Hitler. At the end of the war, Ludmila made another epic journey, this time by boat, to Australia where she made a new life for herself and her family.

 

     Marion’s books are about hope, positivity, and resilience in the face of huge obstacles.

 

Her website is leavesofhope.com.au

 

      

    

 

FREE TO WRITE

Over the years, one of the things that I have given an enormous amount of thought to is what my responsibilities are as a creative. Especially writing. 

Shane Brigg shares some
deep personal reflections

What I have resolved in myself is that the freedom I have in writing comes with sobering obligations. 

Several narratives have inspired this resolution.....

Consider the dystopian world of the movie “The Book of Eli” where the main character is the custodian of the last remaining copy of the Bible, or another which is represented in Fahrenheit 451 where society has outlawed books (they are burned along with the houses they are hidden in). Then there is the superlative work of Marcus Zusak’s “The Book Thief” which represents the book burnings of Nazi Germany during World War 2. The main character discovers a book and begins her adventure of stealing books from the burning piles. Throughout the novels and stories mentioned above the written word, writing, reading, and language are presented as metaphors of freedom, hope and justice. They provide identity and personal liberty to characters who gain "the true power of words" (Zusak). 

The real-life stories and writing of Dietrich Bonhoeffer reflect this perspective and have also been inspiration for me, as do the lives and stories of other writers and thinkers who laid their life on the line to deliver ideas, information, and ideologies through the written word.

The freedom to write comes under a myriad of forms. Along with the delivery of its creativity, prophetic elaborations and provocations have come long-standing threats against writers and the freedom to write. Writers are often influential voices that play a key role in inspiring activists, analyzing, and critiquing state and world affairs, imagining different realities and futures, and generally challenging the status quo so that justice is presented, proposed, produced, and protected. This has meant that through the ages writers have collided with other entities.  As new realities emerge in our world today, including local, regional, and potential world conflicts, the COVID-19 pandemic, other diseases, and repressive responses to sweeping protest movements writers are continuing to do what they do best..... 

Write. 

This often comes at a cost.

Throughout history writers have had their individual freedoms constrained by individuals, groups and authorities (in democratic and authoritarian countries alike). Writers and thinkers who attempt to question social or cultural norms, preserve ethno-linguistic traditions, or criticize policy, plans, perspectives of various structures and processes remain common targets for officials and leaders treating peaceful expression as a threat. Legal charges, detention, threats, and even death are all strategies utilized to silence writers’ voices and ideas from reaching and influencing a wider audience.

During 2020 alone, according to data collected for the Freedom to Write Index (Produced by PEN*), at least 273 writers, academics, and public intellectuals in 35 countries—in all geographic regions around the world—were in prison or unjustly held in detention in connection with their writing, their work, or related activism. *PEN exists as a support network to give writers a voice, to provide for intellectual exchange and to promote freedom of expression for all writers. The acronym originally stood for ‘poets, essayists, and novelists’ but now includes playwrights and editors among that number. Testimonials recounted by Christian ministries such as the Voice of the Martyrs, Open Doors, and  Asia Harvest (and others) speak of countless God-fearing souls who have been incarcerated and martyred for delivering faith-fuelled messages via their writing and lives.

When PEN was in its formative days it was threatened by the rise of Nazism in Germany. At its 1933 Congress in Dubrovnik, the Assembly of Delegates (led by PEN’s president of the time : H. G. Wells) reaffirmed the Galsworthy resolution as a response to events of the previous few months:  the Nazi Party had burned many thousands of books it deemed ‘impure’ (inconsistent with, or hostile to its ideology) in bonfires across Germany. The following day, the German delegation attempted to prevent Ernst Toller, an exiled Jewish-German playwright, from speaking. The German delegation walked out of the Congress – and, out of PEN, until after World War Two. An overwhelming majority rejected the German position and reaffirmed the principles on which they had just voted.

Interestingly a dedication inscribed on a PEN International memorial which sits in a simple grove of trees beside Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra says,

‘The spirit dies in all of us who keep silent in the face of tyranny.’

I have watched with interest the various ‘convoys of freedom’ occurring across the nations this year. These ‘pilgrimages’ (movements of people leading to transformation) have included Australian’s amassing in Canberra, Canadian truckies, families evacuating from the Ukraine, Myanmar refugees, Yemenis, minorities, majorities, millions worldwide in diaspora. Some are by choice, some are forced into exile, some are reactions to individual personal freedoms being limited, some are in fear, some are with a form of faith, some are all about themselves, some are about others, some are friends, some are strangers, some are simply because they want to survive, others because their comforts and securities and liberties have been curtailed. Some walk with limps, some drive their rigs, some must be carried. Some are sad. Some are mad. Some are angry. Some are hopeful. Some are dying. Some have died. 

I am moved with love and compassion with a fair bit of perlustration, sometimes frustration, and much deliberation, and a seeking of wisdom for action. 

Especially in caring for friends who are part of these flows of humanity. I recognized that I have an obligation in my relative freedom: it is a responsibility to do something, and I have discovered, for me, that something is to write.

                                           

Some see freedom as an inherent human right. This includes the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and more.  Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination.

Some see Freedom as an illusion. 

 “Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does,” 

wrote Jean-Paul Sartre. 

But humanity is not so much condemned to be free as condemned to bear the consequences of their choices and to take responsibility for their actions. Humanity has a free will, but that does not make them ultimately free. On the contrary, our choices are mainly driven by survival and default to self-orientation. Moreover, because people live with others, their freedom is limited by morals, laws, obligations and responsibilities – and that’s in countries where human rights are being respected. So, all the freedoms we experience or aspire to are relative: freedom of opinion, freedom of action, freedom to choose a career, residence, or partner. Every choice necessarily leads to a commitment, and thus to obligations and responsibilities. These in turn lead to limitations; but also, to meaning. 

The relative freedom to make a positive contribution to the world gives life meaning, and that is what we all ultimately seek.

In 1944 Justice Learned Hand, speaking to more than a million people in Central Park, New York defined one of the lessons of World War Two when he said:

“And what is this liberty which must lie in the hearts of men and women? It is not the ruthless, the unbridled will; it is not freedom to do as one likes. That is the denial of liberty and leads straight to its overthrow. A society in which men recognize no check upon their freedom soon becomes a society where freedom is the possession of only a savage few – as we have learned to our sorrow.”

He then asked:

“What then is the spirit of liberty? I cannot define it; I can only tell you my own faith. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interest alongside its own without bias...”

My thoughts are that we simply shouldn’t take Freedom for granted. We simply shouldn’t take liberties that Grace cannot afford. We simply need to discover a freedom that is beyond anything that serves self in a reality of mutuality of supporting and empowering and giving agency in relationship with each other. This supersedes agenda to the place of freedom journeys of a convoy of life that embraces one another not because we see the same but that we love and care and share and give and live in a unity beyond our own personal liberty and freedom. Writing can help do that.

All this makes me think about the words of the Apostle Peter (writing to the believers)

“Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honour everyone.  Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honour the emperor.”

1 Peter 2:16-17

The uncompromising position Dietrich Bonhoeffer took in his seminal work Ethics grapples with the premise that Peter espoused and is raised elsewhere throughout scripture. For Bonhoeffer it was directly reflected in his stance against Nazism. It was during this time grappling with the challenges of WWII, until his arrest in 1943 and death, that he worked on Ethics. 

Both in his thinking (his writing), and in his life, Bonhoeffer’s ethics were centered on the demand for action by responsible people in the face of evil. People should not rest on the laurels of their freedoms (real or perceived). He was sharply critical of ethical theory and of academic concerns with ethical systems precisely because of their failure to confront evil directly. Evil, he asserted, was concrete and specific, and it could be combated only by the specific actions of responsible people in the world. He did this through his writing and this inspires me to do the same.

I am free to write. I am free to write about whatever I will. But in my freedom to write, my personal narrative has become a pursuit of using my craft responsibly. 

For me, writing is a calling to not only do it well, but with a sense of mission, to help bring hope, justice, life and God’s love and freedom. 

Am I enjoying the process? Yes. Is it life bringing and not with a legalistic compulsion? Yes.  Provocative, and catalytic, fuel for thought? Yes. Inspiration to write? Amen.

Maybe it is for you too ?