So good

If every run
felt like this run,
then everyone
would go run

A wedding, a funeral, a birth

A wedding, a funeral, a birth.

My son was married in March. My mom died in May. My grandson was born in June.

Three of the most significant events in our lives, a wedding, a funeral, and a birth, involving persons near and dear, and all three took place inside 121 days.  I had one kind of life on March 1 and by July 1 it was all different.

But these events are not only literal. They are illustrative, as well.

A funeral. Mankind died when Adam fell and was doomed to eternal spiritual death apart from the redemptive actions of a merciful God. And then Christ comes to a believer, and there is another death - the old man dies. There is a new creation and the desires change. The believer is not the person he used to be.

A birth. Christ has come, “born to give us second birth” as the carol goes. My second birth depends on Him and His coming to me. He comes by His birth as a baby boy in Bethlehem, and by His coming as Savior by His Spirit.

A wedding. Some day, a day which the Father alone knows the date for, Christ will come and gather His elect from every nation, His Bride. There will be a great wedding feast and an endless loving and knowing between Jesus and His Bride will commence. The proper consummation of His redemptive work will be revealed. The longing will cease.

For now, though, the longing continues. And our longing is not too different from the longing that Israel felt as she awaited Messiah. We feel our need, our lack, and know that it will not be met from within, but from without. Someone outside of us must intervene.

And He did.

Yet in thy dark streets shineth

The everlasting Light

The hopes and fears of all the years

Are met in thee tonight

Just write

From James Lileks at the Bleat:

Look: If you don’t know what to write about, start writing.It doesn’t matter what you’re writing about. Just write. This is the only advice of any note I can offer. Don’t think. In fact, try not to. Just type.

C.S. Lewis on writing

C.S. Lewis did not use a typewriter, but wrote all his books and letters longhand. Why he did so goes to an ingredient of the writer's craft.

Lewis thought the typewriter broke the writer's rhythm and the reason he thought that - his pen.

Take a look here.

What was learned

"This is dedicated to . . . ."

So begins so very many books. The author starts the story by dedicating the whole shootin' match to someone who, usually has nothing to do with the story, but very often a great deal to do with its existence. Here is the first thing I learned. Well, it may have not been, in chronological order, the first thing I learned, but it is the first thing I want to mention. That is, the authors are telling the truth when they write the dedication. There is a writer out front, sure, but behind the writer is who knows who else and he, she, or they are sacrificing who knows what in order to leave the writer alone to write. I have seen it.

And before I am unfairly accused of presumption, let me clear something up. I am under no illusion about what I have done this month. It's a homemade blog that contains between 50 and 60 posts that run roughly 3-5 paragraphs apiece. It is no book. I know that. But I also know, and you cannot deny that I know, just exactly what it takes to crank out fifty-some-odd posts in 31 days and that is why I can say that anyone who takes on a book (a real, live book) is telling the truth when he says it would not have been possible without so-and-so. I have seen it.

Which leads directly to the next thing that was learned. It takes time. Lots of time. If a person intends to write, it is good if they can write for a living. In others words, it is good if they do not have to go to another job in order to pay the bills. As you can see, this is directly tied to the issue that has already been addressed. If one has a full-time job and then needs the evenings to work on the book, or the article, or the blog, well, it just wears on everybody. Be sure you have time.

And when you decide to give time to writing, guess what? You have taken time from something else. This has been covered above in relation to people in your life, but other things get ignored, too. I like to read, but you can't spend too much time on that if you mean to write. Cardinals baseball? Can't watch it very much. How about staying caught up on sports blogs, news blogs, and other info in my reader? Can't do it. I spend my evenings slaving over a hot keyboard.

It is work. Again, this draws on so much of what has already been said. Generating ideas gets hard after you have thought of all your ideas and you still need to write 12 more posts this week. So you pad Friday with pictures and you fill Tuesday with haiku. And if you think of something, how do you make sure it doesn't sound like something you wrote the other day. The mind and the fingers head to the familiar places. It is work.

I've learned that you have got to have people in your life who will give of themselves so you can write. It is work and you have to give up some good things you enjoy in order to write. As a writer friend told me years ago, "Stay in the hard chair." It's true.

I've also learned I still love it, even when it wears me out. I love it when a sentence sounds good. I love it when I've built a story that satisfies at the end. I love words.

And I love my wife, without whom this blog would not have been possible. 

Thanks

I just wanted to say "Thanks" to all you folks for taking a look at the blog during the month of August. I know that time is limited and most everyone has multiple significant duties, people, chores, and playtime calling for attention. If you took time to read a post of mine, I am thankful, happy, and humbled. A few of you personally let me know that you are reading and that is very nice to hear.

If, by chance, you wanted to keep up with my thoughts, you can find me in three spots.

Fifty-five for thirty-one won't go away and I intend to post here more specifically about writing, examples of writing I like, and some words and pictures of my own.

More narrowly-focused, and of less interest to most of you, is Poppy's Front Porch which my cousin started and invited me to contribute to. It's mostly family stuff with rockets, maps, and cartoons thrown in.

And my long-time home, Central Standard, where I will weigh in on theology, sports, politics, and stuff that doesn't fit on the other two.

Again, thanks for reading.

My best cards V

What can you say about Stan Musial that hasn't been said?

I wrote a bit about him right after his death in January on my blog Central Standard. If you want to read that, the link is here.

He was a class act on the field and off. 

The greatest Cardinal ever, he was one of the best half dozen or so ball players who ever lived.

I acquired this card, a 1953 Bowman, about 20 years ago when I sold the bulk of my collection. The buyers, who knew of my affection for Musial and the Cardinals threw this in the deal, in addition to the money they paid.

It was a generous act befitting of the gentleman whose image is on the front of the card.