“You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you” (Deuteronomy 8:2)
My writing has always been a companion for my soul. This is most
prevalent in my times of sorrow or loneliness and life-changing upheavals.
Writing also witnesses my periods of joy and excitement as life moves on. The
words I write help me express what my heart longs to say.
My childhood enveloped me in a cloak of shyness. This took years for me
to come out of my shell. Even then I shunned being noticed by other people. I
lived my youth like an unheard of book hidden away in a musty corner of a
library.
Now as an almost old guy it seems years have gone by in the speed of
light. I look back on decades of trying to find myself, and where I fit into
God’s plan. Even today I can blush at mistakes I made in my faith. If it is
possible I’m sure I must have been an embarrassment to God.
In the past three years I know of God’s leading and care. He has brought
my wife and I to a stage in life we can rest in. No, we don’t have money to
burn. We have our children and grandchildren close by. We belong to a caring
church family we love to be part of. Besides such blessings, I am in a deeper
love with my writing.
This month brought a new chapter in the life of my writing. I am in love
with poetry, a beautiful form of storytelling. A serious consideration to write
poetry is new to me. From a distance I have always admired poets. Poetry, done
well, can have a powerful emotional impact on readers.
In the first week of November I listened to a poet on the internet radio
channel, Ancient Faith Radio. Angela Doll Carlson, hosts her program, The
Wilderness Journal. Her way of reading poetry drew me in right away. Nothing
else in the moment mattered as I listened to the beauty of her poem. She read
like she loved every word. Through, Angela Doll Carlson, poetry embraced me. I
sensed God’s call for me to enter this beautiful form of writing.
I am unsure where poetry will take me. For now I’m exploring its
territory. From my point of view, a storyteller who is a Christian, I pray my
poems will give peace to readers and stir their souls. I pray I stay true to
the writing God lays on my heart. I trust my poetry presents a sense of
suffering and hope. This is what my writing is all about.
Please accept this humble poem written for our InScribe family.
Through These Words
By Alan
Anderson
Life’s
storms assail,
while waves
crash over us.
We reach for
the shore,
but the
waves are stronger.
Weakness
overtakes us,
we are
frail,
we cannot do
this on our own.
Our Creator,
the Author,
gives us
words.
Be faithful
to these words,
true heart
words from God.
Like fresh
air,
His truth sets us free.
Our call, to
minister with words,
What a way
to view life!
To give
peace to the world,
comfort to
mourners,
strength to
the fearful,
and life to
the dying,
Through
these words!
Alan lives in
Deroche, B.C. with his wife, Terry. Alan contributed stories to Good Grief People by Angel Hope
Publishing, 2017 and Story by Story: The
Power Of a Writer, Unstoppable Writers Publishing, 2018. Blog: https://scarredjoy.ca.
Alan is BC rep for InScribe.
