Friday, March 13, 2009

Life Abundant

I've been absent, I know, and for no good reason. Well, okay, one. I've been thinking a lot about this blog and where it's going. Besides its aimless meander through my life. I know I have readers, but I wonder what they get, other than a little glimpse into a life that is not theirs.

As a writer, I often face a similar roadblock. What can I say that hasn't been said already? How can I be interesting at all when so many other interesting people have come before me?

Faced with this roadblock, I have a tendency to shut down. I don't have anything new to say, I tell myself. I'm not interesting, not compared to all the rest.

But I must be interesting, somewhat, since I have readers who comment on my insights, and since I have essays that draw interest.

So this leads me to the question of purpose. I think this is also known as developing a platform, but I prefer to think of it less as a jumping off point and more as a goal in the distance. Should people have interest in this goal--either in terms of joining me or else out of curiosity over how I manage it--then they become readers. Or rather, they become more engaged readers. Because I'm only going to have so many witty stories to share before they all start sounding the same.

I know this is my business, but it also goes to the whole blog itself. I started out, so long ago, perplexed by a title, finally giving up in the hopes that I'd someday stumble across something more definitive. Except I don't think you really stumble across things like that. It might take a little digging too.

So I'm breaking out my shovels and asking myself what matters in my life. What do I strive for? What do I want to focus on in my daily life? I've been praying a lot, too. For a long time I've felt God's gentle hand guiding me toward a writer's life, and I don't know why. It seems, to my logical self, the hardest road possible, one that I don't even deserve to be on. But He wouldn't ask me to go this far without thinking it was important.

The thing that I come back to is a Bible verse that has long stuck in my heart: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10). It's part of Jesus' parable of the Good Shepard. I'm not theologian and have little to offer regarding the meat of this parable (this is my I'm-not-a-spiritual-guide warning), but the notion of life abundant strikes a particular chord in my soul. I think that it goes to everlasting life, but I think that it also reflects our life on Earth. Because we all do have a life on Earth, and I believe that while we are here, God wants us to live it abundantly.

Anyway, that's where I am now. Life abundant. And where I go from here? Excellent question. For another day.

1 comment:

Melissa said...

I agree, abundant life doesn't have to wait for Heaven.

I can't wait to see what else your shovels turn up!