Undeterred Until Then: an experience in reflective writing by Alan Anderson

 

 

Teach us to number our days,

that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12-17 (NIV)

 

What is Reflective Writing?

 

Writing reflectively involves critically analysing an experience, recording how it has impacted you and what you plan to do with your new knowledge. It can help you to reflect on a deeper level as the act of getting something down on paper often helps people to think an experience through.

 

The key to reflective writing is to be analytical rather than descriptive. Always ask why rather than just describing what happened during an experience.

https://libguides.cam.ac.uk/reflectivepracticetoolkit/reflectivewriting

 

A Personal Reflection

 

I am writing this blog post a few days after bidding farewell to a dear friend who fell asleep in the Lord. Her repose, funeral, and burial reminded me of the brevity of this life. Please permit me to share this reflective message with you. Perhaps readers will find my words helpful when you encounter challenges in life and reflect on them.

 

Embrace Your Why

 

Sometimes when I write, the words hesitate to make their way on to the page. They reflect this writer. There are times I hesitate to make my way into the world. When these times occur, I must remember and give close attention to a constant reality no one can change. God loves the world.

 

I doubt I will ever change the world. I can, however, write with the hope, in deep faith, God might use my words to bring a change to someone else. This is why in my simple way I write… I write…until then.

 

Undeterred

The repose of my friend, along with health challenges I now live with, leave me undeterred in my journey as a writer. These experiences are a sober reminder of the fragility of my days and how each day I live is a gift from God. Such a gift is not chopped up and thrown aside to rot under the heat of the sun like a weed. This gift is to be allowed to bloom as a vibrant flower. As a man and a writer, the fragility of life is not a reason to shrivel away but to remain undeterred in one’s calling. With God’s help, I am undeterred until then.

 

Until then?... What is the significance of until then? What is this “until then?”

 

Until Then

 

I do not dwell on it, but I am cognizant of the fact I have more days behind me than I do ahead of me in this life. I am not aware of how God has numbered my days, yet I pray the time I have will be lived for His glory. Words in my head and heart cannot wait to leap on to a page and my fingers wait undeterred to write. I still have words to share with those who choose to read them.

 

I will write for as long as God calls me to write. “Until then,” will be when the words no longer come. Until then, will come when my body wears out. Until then, will be when this life of mine passes into the next. Until then…

 

Dear ones, embrace the days God gives you…until then.

 

“But until then my heart will go on singing,

Until then with joy I'll carry on,

Until the day my eyes behold the city,

Until the day God calls me home.”

-      “Until Then,” by Stuart Hamblen, 1958.

 

 

 

 

Alan lives in a small village called Deroche, British Columbia, with his wife, Terry, and their poodle, Charlie. He enjoys walking on the dike near his home with trees all around, where he finds inspiration for his writing. He occasionally writes articles for FellowScript Magazine and is a regular contributor to the InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship blog. His website is https://scarredjoy.ca.