Hello again

First fact: yes, I am still alive. One graduate program and a rather high-pressure new job later, I am still alive.

Do I still write? Yes. Barely. I gave up for a while. True, grad school doesn’t leave much time or brain-room for creative writing, but it was more than that. I could see no future for my writing. Worse than that, when I did try to write, it hurt not to be able to write more. So I gave up on it for a while. And a while turned into a while longer. One of my core readers passed on to glory during that time, the lucky dog, so I felt I had even less reason to write.

But now I’m back. That’s the second fact, probably more important to me than the first. I am just coming to the end of something called the Colson Fellows program. It isn’t my intention to advertise for it here, but it’s a several-months-long training program to teach Christians how to understand and confront the major topics confronting us. The pertinent part, the part that brought me back here, was the final requirement of writing a personal mission statement: how do I intend to put to use the training I’ve received? The assignment required me to consider various factors, such as my “particular skill set and giftedness,” whatever calling I might sense (defined as “the thing that grieves you most or stirs your passion”) – that sort of thing.

Despite a long period of trying to quit being a writer, I found that the answer to these considerations had to be writing. So I ended up with something like this:

My heart’s desire is to use the intellectual and creative gifts the Lord has given me to reach others with the gospel through stories and Bible study guides. My passion is mostly with the former, while my current circumstances give weight to the latter. I had been working on this goal for many years on my own and lost heart, but this program has rekindled my longing to create and share stories that mirror a Christian worldview thoughtfully. My natural bent is toward fantasy fiction with its world-building and adventure. I’m grieved by the superabundance of such stories built on false worldviews and propagating bad / harmful ideologies. My basic plan is to establish a routine that integrates writing back into my schedule, as well as to start searching for others who can help me realize this goal. By the time Christ takes me home, I hope to have left a legacy of revitalized Christian fantasy fiction and thoughtful, in-depth Bible study resources that will build up the Church to greater maturity.

So here I am. My goal is essentially the same. I’m looking for a new method. Chiefly, I need comrades-in-arms… and I have no idea where I’ll find any. Here goes…