07/18/2007

I have a narrative constantly running through my head: I hear my own voice telling the story of life, my life, as I go through the day. If you were suddenly afflicted with this same condition, you might find it annoying or distracting, but I'm used to it. Words come easily to me. By the time I sit down to write about something that occurred during the day or some thought that I'd been pondering, the words are already waiting in my fingers...just itching to be typed. In many realms I would not feel confident or competent, but in the matter of verbal self-expression, I have no struggle: words, feelings, ideas--these things run through my veins alongside my blood.

I have known people who struggled to put even one word on a blank page. I can recall sitting in the library at my high school and observing as people around me fought to lasso the English language. It was a fight. The second and third and fourth words came with no less effort than the first, and it baffled me! I wanted to say, "Stop thinking about it. Let your pen do the talking. Turn off your brain and simply write." It's not natural for everyone.

Some of the best reading I've ever done has been written by an Aunt of mine: Aunt Sharon. When you read her words, you hear her voice. Reading her narrative is easy, smooth...like having a conversation with an old friend. I appreciate that quality about her writing. When I read her emails or letters, I'm left with the impression that looking over any document she touched would be an entirely pleasant experience: her tax forms, her resume, etc. She is just a naturally gifted author. I found a quote the other day that immediately brought Auntie Sharon to mind. "A good style should show no signs of effort. What is written should seem a happy accident." (W. Somerset Maugham)

It is no accident, however. God hands out different gifts to different people. For those of us who were handed a gift-wrapped box full of words, our writing seems a 'happy accident.' For those who were gifted a gift-sack of musical notes, tunes never leave their minds. Those whose presents were full of charcoals and paints leave murals on the walls they walk beside. Those who dance, those who run, those who preach, those who act, those who love, those who give, those who go: those who know the ONE who bestowed their gifts and use them to bring Him delight: those are blessed and abundantly joyful in using their gift, no matter how obscure or small, to reflect the Perfecter of song, dance, art, words, and love. "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow."