The Writing Life
“We minister best out of healthy souls.” – Tony Merida
To write from a healthy soul is a question of aim. Am I aiming to be a better writer, entrepreneur, et cetera, or am I aiming to be a pleasing aroma to God? It’s an important question to ask for I will never be the person God designed me to be if my soul is chaotic, untethered from him, unhealthy.
I’ve become involved in a variety of new activities in the past year. Most have been focused on spiritual development; I believe that being ready for whatever comes next requires, as Tony Merida would say, a healthy soul. I operate best when my soul is in order, when its delight and happiness is in the Lord.
If you want to be a better writer, particularly a writer who authors white papers and case studies, you have to be an archeologist. Grab your hat and a whip—you’re going to need them. Boulders will give chase; you will fall into a pit of snakes. Be prepared. Come with the whip at the ready.
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My journey into entrepreneurship often puts me in mind of Abraham—the Israelites, too, although they at least had an idea of where they were going. They might not have thought it was going to take forty years to get there, but they did know God was leading them to Canaan. Abraham, though, had no such knowledge. God told him he would be a blessing to all nations and then said to follow. No destination; no time frame. Simply a call to follow, the same call Jesus made to his disciples and continues to make to people today.
To be a writer is to choose the work of limiting. You focus on one thing and not another. You know the other thing is there; it’s peeking its head around the corner or out of a hole, sticking its tongue out, cocking its head, jabbering in a foreign tongue—some nonsense about a tea party?—and you feel the temptation to follow. You want to know where the other creature goes, what its story is, why it acts the way it does.
One of the struggles of being an entrepreneur—at least it’s one of mine—is making time to work on the business. Working for the business always takes priority, and it’s no wonder. The “for” work pays the bills. The “on” work, however, is critical to getting the “for,” so…
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