Capital District, February 2009 Days 04 & 05

Sunday, February 8, 2009

For me, Sundays when I’m not preaching are strange days. I suppose it’s due to muscle-memory; I’m just geared to teaching God’s word on Sunday. When I don’t, as was the case this week, I feel a bit lost and disoriented. Nevertheless, I managed to do more work on my book—although the going is slow. I’m not sure whether this just isn’t the right time to be focusing on a new project—especially as one as taxing and time-consuming as book-writing—or if I should concentrate more on getting CTW (and its website) squared away.

As is usually the case with most spiritual activity, I worked hard all day, but had little tangible evidence of that hard work. Scrolling back through the few pages I did manage to bang out, I felt a wave of despair. The enormity of the project dwarfed the puny progress I had made. Tomorrow, I reasoned with myself, is another day. With that hopeful reminder, I went to Chipolte Burrito and put an end to my workday.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Apparently, my next day didn’t get the memo about being another day, so I struggled through several hours with little to show for my efforts. I suppose, in one way, the chapter I’m writing on the Exhorter Gift-Mix is beginning to take shape, and I do have a rough draft for two-thirds of the chapter. But I was hoping each chapter would take 2-3 days to frame in the rough, as opposed to what looks like 5-6 days of hard writing.

When I say “hard writing,” I do not mean that I pound any more forcefully on the keyboard. Hard writing means the going is slow, and I have to fight hard for every sentence, much like an army squad might have to take every inch of territory facing fierce defense from the enemy. When I write, I have to pull, pack and push each sentence.First, I pull from several ideas, thoughts, phrases and directions, each of which swirls around in my mind at the same time as all the rest. The thoughts/concepts come and go randomly in my mind, traveling along crazily-configured orbits, so I never know if they’re going to pass by again, or if they’re one-time ideas that I better grab (if I can) while I can. Often, too many ideas want to insert themselves in a single sentence, and I feel like an airline passenger who must toss items from his overweight bag to continue checking in. It’s a hard decision, sometimes, selecting one idea over another because my non-linear mind knows it may be saying good-bye to that idea forever!

Once I pull the thought/concept from the air, I have to package it in a sentence or two. This is another agony. The English language has marvelous versatility both in its sentence structure options, and in its vocabulary. We have more ways of saying things than almost any other language in the world! Urrgh! Consider, for example, simple decisions about sentence syntax:

• Do I put it this way?
• Shall I construct the sentence in this manner?
• Is this choice the best choice for the sentence structure?
• Of all possible arrangements, is this the best phrasing?
• Considering the many sentence types and structures from which I might choose, does this one convey, in the most readable and understandable manner, the essence of what I want to communicate?

As for word-choices—synonyms and like-meaning but different-feeling words—consider the options I face in simply saying (the whole point of the book):

You are unique [one-of-a-kind, incomparable, an original masterpiece, without peer, special, distinct, matchless] and God designed [created, fashioned, molded, framed, constituted, arranged, intended] you to function [work, minister, operate, carry out ministry, labor] in a particular [specific, definite, special, exact, precise, original, refined] way.

Boo-Hoo. I guess this is what I get for paying too much attention in the language and literature classes I took through all the years of my schooling.

Finally, if the previous exertions (pulling and packing) haven’t exhausted me, I must push the sentence out on the page like my mother used to squeeze sugar-dough (through metal design molds) onto cookie sheets for Christmas cookies. The sentences rarely just write themselves, and if I’m not careful, they start to take on a (wayward) life of their own. My sentences are like a pack of hunting dogs, barking and yelping to be loosed on an unsuspecting fox. Words tumble about, and even when I pick one or two to lead the pack and ask for an orderly procession from the words-to-follow, those crazy dogs rarely cooperate.

Starting a sentence isn’t as straightforward as one might think. All of them have their own suggestions about how to begin each sentence:

A sentence can begin with almost any word, so which should receive the honor?

Because we can start sentences with a clause, the subject isn’t necessarily the first word in a sentence.

In the end, a phrase that starts a sentence can add a meaningful qualifier to the subject of that sentence.

The beginning and the ending of a sentence are its two most impactful parts.

As a blessed relief from my writing, I had dinner with Niki and Kelly, pastors of the Mt. Vernon
Foursquare Fellowship. They showed me the new facility they’re leasing in an industrial complex not far from Alexandria, Virginia. We talked strategy for their church (building on the unique positioning God has arranged in their lives and in their congregation) and for future Young Adult conferences. They have been hosting small but intensive seminars for young professionals, attempting to woo those lawyers, doctors, bankers, IT people, etc. into a more intentional choice to seek first the Kingdom (ministry).

Though Niki does not like fish (“It tastes like fish,” he complains), Kelly and I conspired to take him to a fish grill. He did succumb to the pressure I put on him: he had a bite of my Haddock (on a bread plate with a different fork than the one he was eating with) and he ordered “Angler’s Steak.”

Then I drove back to my hotel in Baltimore, and called it a night.

Characteristics of Exhorters