Here’s a reflection for those who feel a call to the writing life – especially those who have been, for one reason or another, ignoring the call. This message can easily be adapted to address, not just writers, but anyone invited into a creative vocation.
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You thought that you could coop the words up inside you and forget about them. You thought that not writing for a while would be inconsequential. You thought that ignoring the invitation to write – postponing the vocation of writing – wouldn’t really matter. It was important, but not so important that you couldn’t keep putting off the work without much impact to your life.
But you didn’t realize how tied up in the very core of your being this mission might be. You didn’t see, although you knew you had a gift, just how vital the work of expression would prove – to your fate, to your development, to your joy and peace. You didn’t understand, although GOD was telling you, that, by writing, you would be acting as an instrument of His Truth, His Beauty, and His Presence for the people who encounter Him through your words.
It’s not, of course, a question of pride. It’s never been that.
It’s merely the question of a call – a serious call – and the consequences of answering it, or not.
And although it might seem a small matter (for, indeed, sometimes your writing won’t feel important or exciting or grand), this question in fact strikes to the core of who you were created to be. Therefore, saying “yes” – not only with your mouth, but also with your pen – becomes an act of profound importance, influencing the mechanisms of your heart and soul and shaping the very course of this “one wild and precious life” you were given to live.