13 Jan 2011

Writing gives me a safe haven for all of my problems. I dump them into the  computer and wait for God to come and pick them up. God is a trash man if the truth be known. It is a well-known saying that if you give your problems to God, He will pick them up. Truer words were never spoken.

Of course, God is also a tough taskmaster. Hannah Hurnard, who wrote Hinds’ Feet On High Places, was called to speak for Him. Partly, or perhaps solely, because she had a lisp and spit when she talked. But so strong was the calling that she did it anyway. In the process she became a much beloved writer. I often refer to this book in my essays. She has a character called Little Much Afraid who wants to follow the Good Shepherd and get to the High Places. So He tells her to hold the hands of Sorrow and Suffering and they will take her there. The allegory is simple and powerful. She gets to the High Places only to find that now she must pour herself down into the valley like a waterfall. She must serve the Low Places. But she is given a new name, Grace and Glory.

That is what writing my book, LIFE WITH A HOLE IN IN IT,  did for me. It is my journey, on paper, of going from the low places to the high places and back into the low. Only this time, I have a small light to share. I have learned how to write circles around my suffering because I know that in the center there is light. There can be ease on the edge, but only if God Himself leads you there. It is a perilous journey that not everyone is called to make.

Death is as certain as life. Life is as certain as death. Two ends of a stick. We can use it as a walking stick or beat ourselves to death with it. Sometimes the choice is clear. Sometimes the light shines and all we have to do is follow it.

If you doubt you can do it, according to Galileo, “Doubt is the father of invention.” It is okay to doubt yourself, the world and God. Just know you are and become a witness to your own ability to write circles around your pain. Let your light shine.

You are the light at the center. You are the scribe. You can describe, subscribe, unsubscribe.

Often humor is the tool I prefer to use. A good healthy rant breaks the spell of pain. And that’s what we are ultimately doing…breaking the spell of our miserable, whiny little thoughts that center around poor me. We are not poor little me’s. We are light itself. We are beacons of light, writing circles around our pain. Forget poor me. Empower yourself. Stay humble, stay centered and light will pour in from the center to the edge.

Vicki Woodyard