Strange Creatures, a Tollbooth, a Rabbi and a Lion by Connie Inglis

My creative journey started with my attraction to strange creatures--the fantastical. I have no recollection of when that attraction began, but I do think Dr. Seuss fed that creative spirit in me. I guess I always thought that everyone's imaginations ran wild when reading about a zizzer-zazzer-zuzz and a fiffer-feffer-feff. Mine certainly did and it led me to my first writing at 10 years old about a little martian that lived with strange creatures on Mars, complete with illustrations.

Without encouragement, however, I forgot my writing until grade 7. That's when my English teacher realized my interests and suggested I read, The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster.  I LOVED this book. It re-lit the joy of reading in me, reminding me that writers still write fairy tales and other-world adventures for young adults and adults. This teacher also loosed the poet in me and affirmed my first real poetry writings. I thank that teacher for spurring me on.

Teacher inspiration continued in high school as my eyes were opened to Shakespeare, Tennyson, Browning. So I learned to appreciate not just innovative prose but deep, spiritual poetry as well. One of my favourites was a poem by Robert Browning called, "Rabbi Ben Ezra," my favourite stanza being the following:

Grow old along with me!

The best is yet to be,

The last of life, for which the first was made:

Our times are in His hand

Who saith "A whole I planned,

Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!''

What encouraged me was to see the religious themes of these authors and the central role God played in their writings. I was insecure in my writing but these writers made me just a little bit bolder in writing about my faith.

Then a friend introduced me to The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. Until that time I was not familiar with Christian allegory, but after that I could not get enough: Calvin Miller's trilogy, J. R. R. Tolkien's works, G. K. Chesterton's works, Lewis' Science Fiction trilogy. From there I became more aware of Christian themes and Biblical references and would look for them as I read. I found them everywhere--in Dostoevsky, in Steinbeck, in Goethe, in Emily Dickinson, even in T. S. Eliot.

What I was struck with in all this literature is the prevalence of God. He desires to break through to a hurting world in bold ways and in subdued ways and He does it in mysterious ways. I realized that He can use me too, if I am willing to listen to His still, small voice.

I look back on my life and see not just one person but many people, not just one author but many authors, who influenced my writing direction. It humbles me because it reminds me that God cares about me and is alive and active in my little life. And it spurs me on to write words of hope and grace and goodness, sometimes in obvious ways, sometimes in subtle ways, but always for His glory.

Photo by Tammy Derksen Carlson