That Sad Old 'RE' Word

I’d been through 6 weeks of it and managed very well, even if I say so myself. Six weeks spent mostly in bed, unable to do much except RE-lax, RE-ad and be RE-stored. I see you’ve been smart enough to notice there were three words starting with the letters ‘RE” in the previous sentence! You are very observant. I would even guess that you are a Writer. Am I right?

RE-laxing was great! RE-ading was wonderful! Being RE-stored was brilliant! I was deeply content. But then ….came one little hitch. Another ‘RE’ word came into my line of vision. That ‘RE’ word was not as RE-freshing or RE-storative as the other ‘RE’ words. Any guesses as to what it was? It’s one most of us writers are well versed in, having experienced it time and time again.

Yes, the word is RE-jection. Ah! Does it ring any bells?

After the Euphoria of my wonderfully RE-laxing 6 weeks came a week of RE-jection. My book, my baby, my life… was tossed out like a precious, beautifully wrapped gift that was thrown away even before it was opened. My latest book, one I’d worked very hard on for months on end – burning the midnight oil – hoping it would win a competition – didn’t make it after all. I had been sure that God had use of it out there in the big wide world. But – no – there was one winner and that winner wasn’t me!

REJECTION! In my book, RE-jection often equals DEJECTION! It makes me place my tail between my legs and slink away into a corner to brood deeply and to shed a few tears. I confess that I’ve had a number of rejections as a writer. Every single time it hurt. Ouch! Each time it felt like the end of the world – well not quite the end of the world…. .but you know what I am talking about, don’t you?

Over the past few weeks, I have been looking at that ‘RE’ word a bit more closely. And I found something interesting. Viewed through God’s eyes it looks a bit different. It is not painted in dark black letters anymore. Instead, it’s like a prism - displaying to my heart a myriad beautiful colours. Because of course, everything through God lenses are much much much brighter. And so much more beautiful.

Firstly, the RE-jection of my books is not about me. It feels it is. But isn’t. It is about my writing. And I can do something about that. I can strive to improve. Secondly, if God is leading me on – this RE-jection I face is part of His plan for me. If being in God’s will is the most important thing in my life, (and I believe it is) then – even a RE-jection can be viewed differently. Not a sad occurrence after all. But one that together with all else, works things out for my good.

Thirdly, every RE-jection teaches me something new. It helps me RE-focus. My latest RE-jection helped me RE-think my plans for 2013. I am now excited about the change of plans and the direction this year’s sun-dial is pointing.

Finally and most importantly – any guesses as to who faced the biggest rejection of all? Yes, of course! Jesus Himself. As we celebrate the most important event in the Christian calendar this week, we cannot help but be amazed at His sacrifice for us. He came to His own and His own received Him not. He came to share God’s love and what did we do? We hung Him on a cross.

If his RE-jection and death ended in an amazing RE-surrection, bringing RE-newal and RE-storation of all things – perhaps there is a lesson you and I can learn? Perhaps RE-jection is not such a sad little word at all?

Perhaps it will bring me hope, humility and the best way forward?

Here’s wishing all of us writers only the good kinds of ‘RE’ words. Words like RE-newal, RE-storation, RE-building, RE-st and RE-laxation! Words like the RE-jections that He plans for our lives – so we might be truly RE-juvenated! We could perhaps Re-word that RE-jection so both our Writing and our Lives RE-bound to the glory of our RE-deemer!



Anusha delights in many things – life, the love of Jesus, people, the beauty of God’s Creation. She writes mostly for pleasure. Her first book 'Enjoying the Journey' is a book of 75 God thoughts and lessons learnt through every day life. She has decided never to grow old in spite of a body that is already defying her intentions! She enjoys the finer things of life including friendship and chocolate!

Singing, walking, connecting with people and sharing God’s love are her some of her deepest passions. Like her writing, she is a work in progress! Please drop in to say Hello to her at her website Dancing in the Rain at http://anusha-atukorala.webnode.com/

CREATIVITY IN THE IMAGE OF THE CREATOR

Where does a writer’s urge to create come from? While many answers are possible, I can’t help but wonder whether one factor is that we have been created in God’s image—and God is the ultimate creator.¹

Most of us in this group seem to be fiction writers, and we assume that fiction requires more creativity than non-fiction. Having tried my hand at both, I’d say this is true. However, writing non-fiction still requires creativity: as a minimum, it involves communicating information in a new way (if it didn’t, it would be plagiarism). Decisions must still be made about structure, grammar, etc. Ergo, all writing is creative: it involves bringing into being something that didn’t exist previously.

Obviously there’s more ways for people to create than through writing. However, with a bit of dodgy exposition, we can make a tongue-in-cheek case that writers are closest to God in this regard because of their chosen medium. Everything God created was created through the Word (John 1:1–3); everything we create is created through the word. Of course, the Biblical concept of logos (‘word’) is not to be taken too literally, so this parallel is little more than a play on words (so to speak).

While considering the parallel between God’s creativity and ours, we might bravely ponder whether God’s creation is fiction or non-fiction. For centuries, philosophers have been arguing about whether everything is actually real; ie, true and therefore non-fiction. I feel that the creation is real in the sense that (in my opinion) it exists—yet I also feel that it is artificial in the sense that God’s realm, to which we aspire in eternal life, will allow us to see things as they really are (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:12).

In addition to having the desire and ability to create, God derives satisfaction from the results of his creative efforts; eg, ‘And God saw that it was good.’ (Genesis 1:10). This, too, is reflected in the writers’ experience. I’m reminded of a quote from Gloria Steinem: ‘I do not like to write—I like to have written.’. On a bad day, I know what she means! (Presumably God didn’t have any bad days and enjoyed the process as much as the product.)

Obviously, Christians are not the only ones who desire to write, or to create in general. However, I don’t think this observation invalidates my hypothesis, since all people are created in God’s image. Hopefully, as Christians, we are more in tune with that image and more desirous of aspiring to it.

So, next time you put finger to keyboard to create, perhaps you could derive some satisfaction from the thought that you’re reflecting God’s image.

Footnote

1. I’m not meaning to imply anything about the processes that God may, or may not, have used to effect his acts of creation. I’m only assuming that, as Christians, we believe God to be the ultimate cause.

Peter McLennan
http://writer.catplace.net