This post is part of Kate Motaung’s Writer’s Group session 3. Beauty surrounds each of us daily. I cultivate peace, or quiet with silence or uplifting music. I enjoy a pale blue ceiling so I always have blue skies, even on grey days. Great books, Bibles, legendary classics along with Christian writers of every century line the bookshelves that cradle my thought processes.

I absorb as much beauty as I can. For much too long a time I believed that only the “great” was worthy of creation. I have come to recognize that “good” is all we need to create. In Genesis 1 God called each part of creation good. Mankind God called very good. Every living thing was deemed good but the Creator. 

Failing to appreciate the good, by only seeking the great is tantamount to denying God’s creative spark. There are many parts of creation that I may not particularly enjoy. This fact doesn’t diminish the value of say, termites. I don’t want them in my house but they do serve a purpose. Finding joy in the simple doesn’t decrease the pleasure I find in the great.

Typically I write about faith intersecting with everyday life. I am surrounded with Bible verses and reading scripture and devotional literature. This makes my life and writing walk seamlessly together.

I have begun a novel set in Europe centuries ago. Living in twenty-first century America does seem a stretch. The mitigating factor is that I spent years in college studying this period and my fascination has not ceased. I am surrounded by books and other reference material connected to this era. When I write about this time I listen to music from the period. I do climb into a metaphorical time-machine. I transport myself back in time and space before I attempt to lead the reader there as well.

We do best as writers when we focus deeply on what we are attempting to share. Those who are passionate about something are best able to enchant others with the same joy. No one wants to consume our boredom. Everyone wants to drink deeply of the elixir of true joy.