Writer's Block -- T. L. Wiens

I decided to take the Long Ridge Writer's Group's course on novel writing. I had already completed another course they offered and thoroughly enjoyed it. And that was out of my genre. Novel writing should be a breeze.

"Should be" and "are" are two proving to be distant islands without a view of one another. The problem is that my instructor has a very definite idea of what this book should be about and he is refusing to read what I put on the page beyond that context. That's where my writer's block comes into play. I want to pass the course but not at the expense of writing a manuscript that I hate. So I sit frozen in front of the computer clicking to my favorite websites, wasting my writing time.

As I dare to enter this post--this is about the most writing I've done in a month--I realize how similar my writer's block is to times when I've experienced spiritual blocks. I want to be a witness for Christ but somehow I just remain frozen.

What is the cure? I know for my spiritual walk it's Bible study and prayer. Making sure I'm focused on the right things. And maybe that's the cure for writer's block as well. Remembering why I write--to proclaim the Kingdom of God, who  I want to glorify--Jesus Christ and the purpose for writing-- to spread the gospel is the key to making sure I stay on track and the words keep flowing. The grades will have to take a backseat.

Until We're Set Free by Brenda Leyland

"In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it." ~ Michelangelo

Someone once asked the great artist/sculptor how he knew what to carve away from the block of stone he was working on. Michelangelo replied, "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free."

I marvel to think that those of us who allow the hand of God to carve away what doesn't belong in our lives will eventually find that we, too, have been set free. Free to be our true selves -- sons and daughters sculpted into the beautiful image and likeness of Jesus.

It's interesting to consider that Michelangelo became a physical expression of what God the Great Sculptor is doing in each of our lives. Just as Michelangelo saw the statue before he ever started to carve, God sees us, already shaped and perfect in attitude and action. Everything He does is the careful 'hewing away' of all that still imprisons us in marble darkness.

To me, that is a most hopeful thought. He whom the Son sets free is free indeed!