What are we not writing down

What are we not writing down is our fleeting thoughts.

Usually the ones that are so clear and so obvious a revelation are the ones that once they pass by like a ship in the night don’t seem to re-circle the waters of our mind apart from divine intervention.

The others seem to fade a little slower, like mist from the tea kettle. I recall a TED Talk by Elizabeth Gilbert author of Eat, Pray, Love about notable poet Ruth Stone. Gilbert said Ruth would get a poem while out in the field and run home to write it down… it would be unraveling as she ran but she said she could “catch it by the tail” if she got home in time. It would come out backwards but she captured it. And in the even she did not, it would continue to sweep across the landscape looking for another poet. I’ve had similar experiences.

I wonder how many witty inventions clever stories and pearls of wisdom have been lost or reallocated due to the simple act of the absence of penmanship. The Bible mulls about unused gifts that will be deployed to others. (Matthew 25:29)

Like a wonderful artist creates paintings that absorb us into faraway lands of fields, mountains thatched roof houses with a maiden feeding chickens… writing can provide similar portals of departure and arrival.

What we are not writing down may have a cost if not for ourselves perhaps others, just like the one who skips the inspiration of painting or a composer the melody of a song.

Could we imagine our lives without songs like Great is Thy Faithfulness, It Is Well With My Soul or Amazing Grace? How about Joy to the World or Away in a Manger? Our lives would feel different without those songs.

In culture what do archeologists and those whom study society look for? Deities, the everyday workings of life, such as pottery and wagons, but mainly art, music and writings.

God help us when they dig up 2000 years from now trash TV programs. Will they wonder “What happened to these people” such as we have reflected on derelict societies of ancient days. Surely we must create and provide an alternate narrative to be found.

What if the apostles just thought, ah, we are tired and hungry, paper is scarce and delicate maybe we write another day? We may not know how many gems we have missed that could have made it in the mix by Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Clearly today we are endowed differently, not as an apostle, but a child of God nonetheless.

We are often sheepish to write due to our own reflection of self worth, but if the creator instilled that vein in us, then it seems to be His not ours. Ours be only the act of obedience to put pen to paper or typing to the keyboard. And making sure our spiritual housekeeping is done in the aspect of keeping our communication pipes clear of the clutter of the voice of the world.

What we are not writing down could be important. And if its not, well it can go in the shredder of life at the end of days. But if it is, then it has the availability to be present on this side of Heaven to be of benefit, some way, some how.

We shouldn’t assume how it becomes of benefit. There is a story of a man that God told to push on a boulder. Day after day the man did but eventually gave up before being released by God of his task. So God asks him why he stopped. The man said because it didn’t move. God said he didn’t ask him to move it, he asked him to push it. The man assumed it was to be moved. But Gods purpose was to build his strength.

Perhaps writing is a strength building exercise. Writing prowess perhaps, but it could be for character, study or insight building. Maybe not for books or paper at all but a new revelation or viewpoint for which we see the world which we will use to interact with others and help bring light into the darkness in a way we didn’t think initially possible.

Trust the process, but more importantly trust God with our words, they are ideally His anyways.

Sylvia Fox Bevan

Mar 7 2025 Friday

(Uncle Peter passed Mar 5 2024, and Mar 6 the anniversary of my sister Colleen’s heavenly birthday)

Stemmed from a writing prompt “What am I not writing down” for writers nest group this coming Tuesday