A Christian Writing in a Secular World

WWJD?  I've been wrestling with this one.  My WIP is not Christian fiction.  There is no story line about how the protagonist got saved and it turned her world around.  As a matter of fact, it doesn't even mention God, church, Jesus...  At one point, the antagonist screams out hatefulness.  It was a hard dialog for me to write.  I still haven't decided on one sentence in particular.  He says a bad word.  Yep.  My mom would have washed our mouths out with soap!

OK, it's not the @ word, but it's still a curse word.  A Christian friend of mine, when told of my dilemma, suggested I use @#%*#!  Not that the thought hadn't crossed my mind; but dialog is words, not symbols.  The character spewing the word is far from reflecting Jesus.  He is evil, cruel, abusive... just plain mean.  He doesn't say things like, "Darn it, you mean girl!"  I left the word in there. 

I consider writing a form of art.  I am an artist.  I use words to paint.  You cannot paint a sunny day without the color blue.  You cannot paint a sunset using only yellow.  My WIP is already written in my head.  My story has a beginning and an end.  The characters are strong.  I cannot weaken them... it would do a disservice to my work.

I have a notebook on my laptop with oodles of ideas for other books.  Most of them have a dark character.  They're not childrens' books.  Don't get me wrong... I would let my teenage granddaughter read my book.  It's about real life, and sometimes real life is ugly.  I would not be ashamed for my Christian friends to see what I've written.  I really don't care what they think, anyway.  I do care what God thinks.

Sometimes I wonder if God would want me to only write Christian fiction.  I credit Him for this talent that I think I have.  (Although, being a writer, I will face another judgment day!)  Does God want us to use the talents He blessed us with for His glory alone.  If my writing does not bring people into His Kingdom or glorify Him in some way, am I not using my gift as He would have me use it?

I just finished reading that last book of a three-part series that is a prelude to the Left Behind series.  This paragraph, in The Rapture by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, really hit home...

"Another honoree was a prodigious pianist who had taken the gift God had given him and devoted himself to ministry rather than exalt himself by pursuing what was guaranteed to be a lucrative career in the great concert halls.  He taught piano in remote arenas of the world and used his giftedness to spread the Word of God, eschewing personal glory and wealth."

So am I exalting myself for my own glory if I write something other than Christian fiction?  Even though I still pray on this question, I think God says no.  After all, if I were a great classical pianist no one would expect me to play only hymns, would they?

I might someday try to write a Christian fiction novel, but I truly don't think I have talent in that area.  If it is God's will, I'm quite sure He'll let me know...

I have many Christian writers that follow my blog.  I also know a lot of you are Christians without writing Christian stories.  What do you think about this issue?  Does God want us to use our gifts solely for His purpose?

A Big Leap!

Today was a great day!  I have exciting news to share with you.

I was astonished by my e-mail this afternoon.  No, a better description would be knocked silly!  An item in my in-box informed me that I had been invited to contribute to a writers' blog.  Yeah, me!  Yeah, really!  Would I joke about something like that?

So anyway, the letter goes on to say that I should check out the blog...  I clicked before even finishing the letter!

Very quickly, my excitement was replaced by anxiety and doubt.  Yes, it was a new blog, a new group trying to pick up steam.  Still, these were published authors!  Some of these people have traveled the world!  I felt very inadequate.... but that's the old me.  The new me knows that I can write.  I've had this dream my whole life... but I let my low self-esteem continually steer me away, placing roadblocks in my mind.

My biggest fan, Lille Diane was instrumental in my being selected.  She has read a couple of chapters of my book.  I constantly receive encouragement from her.  She was the one that suggested the creators of the blog consider my writing.  How could I not jump on the opportunity?  So I did.

I am now a contributing writer!  Please check out my debut post on Writers Rising.

Dear Anonymous,

I will no longer be allowing anonymous comments on this blog.  For an explanation, click HERE.

Update on my owie...

I am so touched by all the nice comments you left after I posted about my fall!  It's so nice to have dear blogging friends.  I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your thoughts and prayers, and to let you know that I am OK.  Just very sore all over.  I'll be good as new in a couple of days.

The best news is, the more I'm typing, the better my hands are getting!  I won't be taking them for granted.  And I won't walk fast and daydream at the same time anymore.  Well, I'll try not to...

Hey, Yogi... just call me Booboo!

I've got an owie.  Actually, I've got many owies all over my body.  I had an out-of-body experience tonight.  I don't know for sure where my brain went, but it obviously wasn't here, looking out for me!  I went to a place that I've been to many times and fell over the sidewalk.  I thought I was on the ramp, but I thought wrong!  Now, I have a very tender toe, an aching ankle, a knobby knee...  My hands and wrists hurt so bad, it's hard to type this.  The impact jammed my elbows.  Concrete gets harder as I get older.

There have been times in my life that I had a physically demanding job.  I often wondered how long I could work like that.  What if I became injured?  How could I do my job?  I guess it was a positive thing that I didn't take my health for granted.

I don't take my brain for granted either.  I am thankful for the talent (not proven yet) that God gifted me.  But I have been negligent...  I've taken for granted my ability to move my hands... to type.

I never thought that being a writer was something that I needed to be healthy to do successfully.  I did worry that my arthritis might someday become a hindrance.  So far, the effects of arthritis have been very slow and gradual, with anti-inflammatories keeping it in check.  But I never worried about an accident interfering with my ability to write.  Oh, how I wish not to take my hands for granted.

Hands are incredible tools.  I'm not saying that without them, one could not be a writer; but it would certainly be more difficult.  In writing this post, I am reminded of a blog post I wrote in March.  In fact, it was the last post I wrote on my MySpace blog, before I packed up and moved here.  Perhaps I'll repost it on my essays blog someday.  Here is the last part of the post:

It dawned on me that the hand that applied pressure against the wound of the seventy-seven year-old woman in the floor was now the hand that cradled and comforted the four-year-old with the fever.  I stopped typing just now to gaze at that hand... that hand I take for granted every day.  It's remarkable.  My God is so amazing!