Pieces and Glimpses

[This post was supposed to be released last Sunday, but winter weather caused some delays!]

Can I write a post about not knowing what to write about?

            Now that I’ve published my book, all the next projects are motoring around like bumper cars in my mind, vying for my attention. But I’m holding them off, not fully stepping into one of the bumper cars yet. I’m still enjoying the feelings of peace and release that come from finishing a big project. Similarly, as I’ve been trying to determine what to blog about over the last week or so, lots of ideas have popped into my mind, but I haven’t chosen one to fully develop. All I have are a lot of pieces and glimpses. And then I thought: well, why not put them all together in one post?

A Tapestry of Words

Book number two is one of the biggest bumper cars, and I know I need to step in soon. This next story set in the world of Rhohin needs major revisions before it will be ready to be e-published. I’m beginning to think of the story as a tapestry. I’ve noticed some flaws in the pattern, and I have ideas for new designs to work into it. This process can be excruciating: it takes skillful fingers to pry out the bad threads without damaging the good. It can be scary: it takes courage to loosen a whole section of the tapestry so you can rework it tighter and prettier than it was before. It can be boggling: sometimes you have a beautiful new piece in your hand—and no idea how to work it in. But the process can also be joyful and exciting as you see a fine bit of weaving developing.

Photizo and Narrator

I love words.

Hardly a surprise, right? It’s an occupational hazard for writers. There are many words I like simply because of how they sound or look, like eleven, inkwell, flavor, and caravan. But I also enjoy digging into the meaning of a word. Here are two that have been on my mind lately.

            Photizo (pronounced fo-tid’-zo) is Greek, and means to ‘shed rays’—that is to ‘shine’ or to ‘brighten’ up something in a literal or figurative way. In the Bible, it’s the word in John 1:9—That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.—in Ephesians 1:8—the eyes of your understanding being enlightened…—in Hebrews 10:32—But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings…—and in Ephesians 3:9—and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery…

            Enlighten, illuminate, bring to light, give light, make to see.

            Narrator is in English usage, but it’s a Latin word. It comes from narrare (to make known, to say, to speak) and means a ‘relator’ (think relationship), someone who connects or describes things, like a narrator in a play.

            Make known, speak, make connections, describe, relate.

            If you put photizo and narrator together, what do you get? Why, an illustrator! (One who brightens, makes clear, shows glory.)

An Object in Search of a Lesson

As I was sitting at my desk pondering what to blog about, I began playing with a  little fiber optic toy, letting my mind meander. I considered what a fascinating object this toy was. At the flick of the switch, the bright light at the base travelled almost instantly through all the string-thin, clear fibers, completely invisible until it burst out the tip. What happened to the light in between? Why couldn’t I see it in the middle of the fibers? How did this light stay contained in the fibers, so that no matter which way I bent and curled them, it was still shining out the tip?

I tried to think of a lesson this object might teach. Sometimes when I’m making a picture or telling a story, it feels like an object with no lesson. I know the light that inspires me comes from God, but sometimes that light travels invisibly through the art, and I don’t know what He’s up to, until suddenly He bursts forth.

Pictures

My nineteen-year-old brother recently entered volunteer firefighter academy. He is focused, dedicated, and determined to succeed. In order to give more time to training and study, he has to let go of most ‘frivolous’ activities like TV, computer games, movies, and snow-boarding. His desire to be a fireman is what defines him right now. Although it’s not quite the army, it reminds me of 2 Timothy 2:3:

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

            Watching him, I am challenged. My brother is a picture.

            God surrounds us with pictures. My mom recently pointed out two that I had never thought of in connection before: the tabernacle/temple of the Old Testament, and human marriage. The tabernacle/temple was beautiful and good. Everything in it, from the mercy seat in the holy of holies to the sacrificial blood being shed on the altar outside, pointed to Jesus. Once He came, we didn’t need the human priests and the animal sacrifices anymore, because He fulfilled the picture. Jesus is the Real Thing. Human marriage is beautiful and good. (I hope very much to experience it someday!) But I need to remember not to worship it, because it too is a picture. One man, representing Christ, one woman, representing His bride, the Church. The picture is a gift that points to a future reality. Jesus is coming again, and then we will experience THE marriage.

            In the Bible, God uses a potter as a picture of Himself, at work on the clay which is His people. So then, perhaps the painter at the canvas is also a picture of God, the Master Artist. Perhaps the writer typing away at a keyboard is a picture of God, the Author of all life. And so is every musician, singer, dancer, photographer, seamstress, and any sort of creative person He has called to His service. We artists make pictures; it’s what we do. May our pictures always point to the Real Thing.

            Now go out and photizo!