"Be joyful, seek the best, and let the sparrows sing."
-- Pope John XXIII
January 19, 2014
keep me close
"Keep me close, keep me close
Keep my head above water.
I need to hear Your voice.
I can't do this on my own.
Take all my guilt
Take all my pride
I want to know you sincerely."
January 18, 2014
surrender to completion.
Like a flower needs it's light, earth, and air, so I need You. I need You more than my lungs need air and my veins blood. Without You never would I have made my fleeting dash across the stage and exunt stage right. No lips to smile, no heart to swell, nor head to throw back in joy.
There is a hole -- a huge, gaping abyss -- and it hurts so dreadfully. A substance or mortal fill this hole? But I'm designed for more? The King of kings and infinite being to calm my heart and ease my soul? Unworthily, but necessarily, I close out this ending world and surrender to completion.
There is a hole -- a huge, gaping abyss -- and it hurts so dreadfully. A substance or mortal fill this hole? But I'm designed for more? The King of kings and infinite being to calm my heart and ease my soul? Unworthily, but necessarily, I close out this ending world and surrender to completion.
January 1, 2014
neglect
The times when I've been failing, smothered, empty, hollow, and neglecting my relationship with Him -- giving up on any goodness in my life, and so too my final good -- those are the time when I crave Him. I actually feel. My heart writhes in longing. The blood through my veins and air in my lungs, He propels my life, and desperately I need Him. How merciful that in the times I most neglect Him, He grants me the most feeling and longing for Him.
"Human Fiction"
Every creative work has a part of its maker in it -- it's nearly impossible to make something with complete unbiasedness. Every person has a perspective through which he will communicate with the world. Unnecessary categories and labels only serve to discourage a view of the unity of the human condition. (See, right there I asserted an assumed principle that the human condition exists -- a theory I believe and with which some people disagree severely. But everybody will, I hope, at least admit that we are all together homo sapiens trying to make some pretty things here.)
Imagine if you walked into a bookstore and there were millions of little sections "Atheist Fiction","Buddist Fiction", "Humanitarian Fiction", "Racist Fiction", "Relativist Fiction", "Materialist Fiction"...whatever. But that is not the case. If one walks into Barnes and Nobles now, what will be seen is a "Fiction" section and "Christian Fiction" one, and the latter is assumed to be poorly written -- the plot and characters are merely a stage to shout bible passages from. This assumption -- unfortunately -- is often correct.
Literature expresses the views, thoughts, and stories of people. And people are innately unique. So uniform characters who all think the same societally accepted thoughts is absolutely ridiculous. Good writing is a hard earned craft which ought to be appreciated and evaluated as just that. Not on the belief system of author or characters.
There is a mindset amongst some Christian writers that any book they write has to go through a Christian publisher to get to the mainstream of this sub-culture. And for main stream of this subculture is all to which they aspire. They lose sight of the over arching goal of writing with the most skill and craft as possible in this self expression.
For some writers -- like myself -- there is a fear of writing a Catholic of Christian character for fear of being shoved off to the the ever-dreaded "Christian Fiction" shelf. In my writing I hope to accurately and fully explain the life and pains of a person through my character. A person's believe in spiritual beings, life after death, and the like greatly shape this person's life and so, to fully write the way a character views the world, certain greatly polarizing opinions must be expressed. Does my character think there is hope after death? Or that there is no God? What does he think is a good thing?
I think it is a huge mistake to start classifying fiction. If classification is so greatly craved, why not "Human Fiction"? At the end of the day, we are all humans trying to fight through this life thing. Literature shows on a page that through an array of colors, creeds and opinions, the same basic traits shine through: love, joy, hope, humanity! And this is far too beautiful of a thing to sacrifice to classifications and labelings.
Imagine if you walked into a bookstore and there were millions of little sections "Atheist Fiction","Buddist Fiction", "Humanitarian Fiction", "Racist Fiction", "Relativist Fiction", "Materialist Fiction"...whatever. But that is not the case. If one walks into Barnes and Nobles now, what will be seen is a "Fiction" section and "Christian Fiction" one, and the latter is assumed to be poorly written -- the plot and characters are merely a stage to shout bible passages from. This assumption -- unfortunately -- is often correct.
Literature expresses the views, thoughts, and stories of people. And people are innately unique. So uniform characters who all think the same societally accepted thoughts is absolutely ridiculous. Good writing is a hard earned craft which ought to be appreciated and evaluated as just that. Not on the belief system of author or characters.
There is a mindset amongst some Christian writers that any book they write has to go through a Christian publisher to get to the mainstream of this sub-culture. And for main stream of this subculture is all to which they aspire. They lose sight of the over arching goal of writing with the most skill and craft as possible in this self expression.
For some writers -- like myself -- there is a fear of writing a Catholic of Christian character for fear of being shoved off to the the ever-dreaded "Christian Fiction" shelf. In my writing I hope to accurately and fully explain the life and pains of a person through my character. A person's believe in spiritual beings, life after death, and the like greatly shape this person's life and so, to fully write the way a character views the world, certain greatly polarizing opinions must be expressed. Does my character think there is hope after death? Or that there is no God? What does he think is a good thing?
I think it is a huge mistake to start classifying fiction. If classification is so greatly craved, why not "Human Fiction"? At the end of the day, we are all humans trying to fight through this life thing. Literature shows on a page that through an array of colors, creeds and opinions, the same basic traits shine through: love, joy, hope, humanity! And this is far too beautiful of a thing to sacrifice to classifications and labelings.
December 30, 2013
a bit of comfort
You know what? He hasn't given up, so neither should you. He knows you from beginning to end and still chose to create. You are here. Don't give up on yourself when you are being fought for daily: the saints pray, your mother intercedes, and your God rains constant mercy upon you. A whole army cares for you and loves you and want to see you united with your Creator. Just fight a little longer. Nothing was so worth the effort.
just saying
aesthetic craftsmanship
"I must write down that I am to be an artist. Not in the sense of aesthetic frippery but in the sense of aesthetic craftsmanship ; otherwise I will feel my loneliness continually -- like this today. The word craftsmanship takes care of the work angle & the word aesthetic the truth angle. Angle. It will be a life struggle with no consummation. When something is finished, it cannot be possessed. Nothing can be possessed but the struggle. All our lives are consumed in possessing struggle but only when the struggle is cherished & directed to a final consummation outside of this life is it of any value. I want to be the best artist it is possible for me to be, under God.
I do not want to be lonely all my life but people make us lonelier by reminding us of God. Dear God please help me to be an artist, please let it lead to You."
- Flannery O'Connor -
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