Beauty Beyond Sight ~ Valerie Ronald

 

How do I convey beauty to one whose eyes can no longer see? An irreversible eye disease has recently robbed my grandson of his vision. From now on his 25 years of visual data will be the only images stored in his memory. Though he is learning to experience beauty with his remaining senses, visual beauty can only be conveyed to him second-hand by the spoken word of another who sees it. 

 

 Already the rest of his senses are adapting. His brain has the remarkable ability to repurpose itself, reallocating the visual cortex to process information from hearing, touch, and smell. As saddened as I am by his loss of vision, I am also challenged to find ways to describe beauty to him that he can interpret through his other senses. His loss of vision causes me to view visual beauty from a unique perspective, searching for metaphors that capture the essence of what I see and translate it to a different physical sense. 

˗˗The sky is as piercingly blue as the clear song of a meadowlark. 

˗˗Her hair curls around her face like the softness of a summer breeze on your cheek

˗˗The swift flow of a mountain stream is as brisk as the scent of a pine forest. 

Jesus was a master of using visual metaphors to describe spiritual truths. He chose appealing illustrations from nature to convey spiritual concepts to temporal humans. He said to the Samaritan woman at the well, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10 NIV). As He spoke these words, the woman might have imagined a spring of fresh, clear water bubbling up that would never run dry˗˗a beautiful picture of the everlasting spiritual life offered to her by Jesus, the Messiah.

 

As a writer who believes in Jesus Christ, my desire is to find descriptive words to convey His beauty to those who are spiritually blind. His beauty is found in His perfect character, His loving purposes, and His exact representation of His Father in heaven. The infinite facets of who He is offer me endless opportunities to describe Him, so those who cannot see Him now will hopefully open their spiritual eyes to see how beautiful He truly is.

 

In coming to terms with his new physical reality, my grandson is developing the ability to know beauty without the means of sight. Already he experiences beauty in the sound of a loved one’s voice, in the touch of a child’s hand, in the scent of rain on the breeze. I pray He will also find beauty in the love of His Saviour.

Valerie Ronald writes from an old roll top desk in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, with her tortoiseshell cat for a muse. A graduate of Langara College School of Journalism, she writes devotionals, fiction and inspirational prose. Her purpose in writing is to encourage others to grow in their spiritual walk. 

Creating Beautiful Literary Art by Nina Faye Morey

We are made in the image of God, our Creator. So it’s part of human nature to want to create beautiful works, whether through art, architecture, music, or literature. As a Christian writer, I long to follow in my Creator’s footsteps. I yearn not only to create something beautiful for the delight of others, but also as a means to awaken their spirits to the goodness and glory of God and His creation.

Give to the LORD the glory due to his name;

worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

~ Psalm 29:2 AKJV

Our Lord is described as “the Word”: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Jesus told stories (parables) to illustrate His teachings, and several biblical writers created beautiful poetic books, such as the Psalms, the Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes. Therefore, as a follower of the Lord, I feel a desire to serve Him by learning how to artfully employ words in order to proclaim the gospel.

I believe my desire to write is a divine calling from God. I view works of literary art not just as human creations, but God creating through their authors. The Holy Spirit and the beauty of God’s Word inspire me in my creative endeavours to express God’s love for the world. I wish to use my creative gift to praise God, and I hope others will experience and praise Him through my creations. I want to dramatically change readers’ hearts and transform them into worshippers of God, either by awakening a desire in their heart to get to know Him or reawakening their long-lost faith.

One of my goals is to tell God’s glorious message in a way that won’t make my writing sound preachy. That tone turns off readers, turns their hearts away from God, and it definitely doesn’t create beautiful literary art. I strive to create images or word pictures that will convey the truth of God’s Word without making it seem incomprehensible or objectionable to the uninitiated. John the Baptist, King David, Jesus, and many other great messengers of God used word pictures to preach the truth of the gospel. God generously gives me the freedom to use my creative skills to pass along the knowledge I’ve received for the benefit of others (Exodus 35:34-35).

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power

and divine nature, have been clearly perceived,

ever since the creation of the world,

in the things that have been made.

~ Romans 1:20 ESV

Just as I catch glimpses of God in the beauty of the natural world He created, I also can see His grandeur in the beautiful works of art created by the human hand. Such artistry inspires me to use figurative language, like metaphors, to create beautiful literary art that conveys the meaning and truth of the gospel message. Orson Scott Card, an American novelist whose faith influences his writing, has taught several creative writing courses and written two books on this topic. He says, “Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space.”¹

The great theologian, author, and hymnodist, Martin Luther, understood well the value of creating beautiful literary art to reveal the Word of God: “Certainly it is my desire that there shall be as many poets and rhetoricians as possible, as I see that by these studies as by no other means, people are wonderfully fitted for the grasping of sacred truth and for handling it skillfully and happily”²

Words have the power to transform hearts and minds (Romans 12:2). The world needs more beautiful writing—poetry and prose, drama and songs—that reveals the truth.

Whose writing do you consider beautiful? How will you create beautiful literary art?

¹Orson Scott Card Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2019. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/orson_scott_card_108637, accessed July 5, 2019.

²Martin Luther, Letter to Eoban Hess, 29 March 1523. Werke, Weimer edition, Luthers Briefwechsel, 111, 50. Cited in Donald T. Williams, “Christian Poetics, Past and Present,” in The Christian Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing ed. Leland Ryken, Shaw Books, 2002, p. 8.

Metaphorically Speaking... Marnie Pohlmann

I was visiting my son and his family this past week while my husband took a course toward his Master's in Leadership degree. I have taken some classes at an undergraduate level, but this time I needed grandbaby hugs more than education. On this visit though, I have received both hugs and knowledge.

We don't see our grandchildren very often as we live in northern British Columbia and their family lives in Saskatchewan. Yet the youngest, my Sweet-Pea grand-girl, did not play strange with us and willingly snuggled in to read books between running to get into mischief or demanding with a combination of sounds and sign language what she wanted. My most favourite (and only) grandson, no longer a baby but a wonderful little boy, was quick to ask me to play Lego or go on imaginary superhero adventures. He often said, "me love you" and my heart would melt.

I was able to watch the grands by myself a few times during the week, and I soon remembered how exhausting parenting is! Two active young ones demanding attention had me going upstairs and down, inside and out, to play or to get snacks or to wash up dirty hands or bum. Somehow it was easier to balance firm discipline with loving grace while caring for my grands than it ever was with my own kids. Perhaps that was because I saw the generational potential of their unique personalities rather than suffer the angst of not knowing how to parent. Or because I was not also working, doing laundry and cleaning house in sleep-deprived exhaustion so I could enjoy a more relaxed time. (But what made me think I would have time to write and publish this post while visiting grandchildren!)

It has been said, "writing is like giving birth." Perhaps writer Flannery O'Connor described writing more accurately saying, "Writing is like giving birth to a piano sideways. Anyone who perseveres is either talented or nuts." (So, the question begs to be asked, am I talented or am I nuts? Or is it a combination of both that keeps me writing? And is it this question that keeps you reading to find the answer?) I digress...

Birth does not end the process of childbearing. That event is only the beginning. Parenting the baby takes a lifetime. No matter how old a child is, they will always be Mom and Dad's baby.

If writing is like birth, then parenting must be the editing process. Encouraging the lovely and being disciplined enough to correct the unlovely, such as improper verbiage or defiant grammar and punctuation. Editing can be a challenge and is exhausting yet is necessary for a child to be ready to be sent out into the world.

I have used the metaphor of parenting before in a post to describe how writing and faith are complete but never finished. I often use metaphors in my writing. I often see metaphors in my faith walk, and they help me make sense of life. It is how I process, and how I communicate.

This week as a visiting grandparent I have been given a new view. What is the grandparent role in writing? Or in faith?

We know the caricature of grandparents who spoil their children and then give them back to the parents to handle. "If mom says no, ask Gramma." The reality is, though, that most grandparents love their grands enough not to spoil them. They will be a little more lenient maybe, but loving grandparents still insist on "please" and "thank you" or "three more bites of broccoli before you get dessert." Grandparents who spend any amount of time with their grandchildren will do more parenting than spoiling. The caricature is not a true picture even though it is built on a portion of truth.

We also know writing, or any artistic representation, cannot take the place of living what is presented. Writers use metaphor as a tool to help readers see what they already know in order to lead them to another thought. 

I can see that grandparenting is not a good metaphor for writing. Like parenting, we never truly move on from being a writer. Perhaps we choose to play more than be disciplined but there are no grandparent writers, only writers.

And we know God has no grandchildren. Each person who recognizes God's sovereignty becomes His own child. He is Father, not Grandfather. Even His wisdom cannot be compared to a grandfather because He is so much wiser. God is simply much more than we can capture in a metaphor. Still, we try.

All metaphors, taken far enough, will fall apart. At most, they are micro-glimpses of just a small part of truth. Grandparenting for a couple days can suggest parenting but does not compare to parenting day in and day out. Grandparenting is perhaps only like writing in that we can choose when to play and when to practice discipline. And while God does love us like parents love their kids, parental love and even grandparent love still do not adequately capture the perfect balance of mercy and judgment that God provides.

This week I have learned that perhaps the best metaphor for writing is a faith walk, and the best metaphor for my faith walk is writing. Both contain elements of fun and discipline. Both have times when they are easy and when they are difficult. And neither is anything like grandparenting. Or are they? 

How would you expand on the statements "writing is like grandparenting" and "faith is like grandparenting?" Or would you just agree that writers must be a little nuts?

Marnie Pohlmann is a daughter of God, a gramma who loves her two beautiful grands, and a writer of metaphors and more. Phosphorescent, adventures in absorbing and reflecting God's light.

Skipping Stones by Marcia Lee Laycock

This image is one that has been with me for a long time: a smooth black stone skipping across a pond. There are many metaphors that can be drawn from it.

My life is a skipping stone, touching down here and there, causing ripples good and bad, as my influence touches the surface of other lives. The stone always disturbs the mirror-like surface of the pond, distorting the reflections of sky and land, causing a new image to emerge. Every life leaves its mark.

My writing is a skipping stone, leaping from one genre to another, one article to another, one book to another. The writing too, causes ripples, some quickly gone, others more enduring. One day its reach will finally be spent. The stone will disappear into the pond, its purpose complete.

My faith, too, is a skipping stone, skimming the surface of sometimes incomprehensible truths, truths that cause me to fall on my knees, truths that cause me to be still in wonder and awe. This stone is the most precious, the one that has eternal effect, both for me and perhaps for others.

All three of these skipping stones leave intersecting patterns. The life, the work, the faith, all overlap, skipping across the pond at the same time, having an effect in different ways but always causing those ripples.

Because I am a believer in Jesus Christ I know the hand that tosses these stones is strong and will never fail. I don’t have to fear that the ripples these stones cause will have an ill effect, as long as I trust in the one who sends them skidding. He sees not only the intersecting ripples of my life, work and faith, but those of many others. He sees not just the surface of the pond but the many layers beneath and above it. He knows where and when the ripples will touch, blend and create their new patterns. And I can trust that the touch of the ripples my stones create will do His will, no matter my failings. 

So I continue, in obedience. I let the stones fly.

Blessed is the man (or woman) whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage (Psalm 84:5). 

Marcia writes from Alberta Canada where she lives with her pastor/husband and an aging golden retriever. She was the winner of the Best New Canadian Christian Writers' Award for her first novel, One Smooth Stone and the sequel, A Tumbled Stone was shortlisted for a Word Award. Her devotionals have also won many awards and have been published in Canada and the U.S. Her most recent release is a fantasy series for middle grade readers - Journey to a Strong Tower, Journey through Fire and Smoke and Journey to a New Beginning, all available on Amazon or from the author.

Visit her website at http://www.marcialeelaycock.com

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