Category: I Do Declare

A good critique can carry you for miles

I volunteered to write two devotions for the upcoming Advent booklet for my church.

Here are a few words I received back from the person who’s reviewing them.

I actually didn’t expect a review at all. I thought I’d turn it in, and that would be it. So getting a wonderful critique like this was extra special.

Your conversational tone draws readers right into Paul’s message — not only to understand it, but to feel it. Your reflection on the repetition in Philippians 4 is both fresh and pastoral. The encouragement to take “anything and everything” to God in prayer perfectly captures the heart of this passage — a reminder that joy and peace flow not from our control but from His nearness. The modern illustrations (like the “balcony” image) and the gentle humor make it wonderfully relatable while staying fully faithful to Scripture. It’s exactly the kind of writing that helps people connect deep theology with daily discipleship.

I received this critique on one of those mornings — filled with challenges and irritants and headaches — and it turned into a full-blown pity party (party of one!) that slid into questioning a lot of what I was trying to do.

And then I got this message, and it fed me. Such a great reminder that we are here to hold each other up.

Here’s the devotion. As soon as the book is ready, I’ll post the link.

Say it again and again: Rejoice!

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~ Philippian 4:4-7

The directive is so important, we get it twice:

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”

Sing it again. Say it louder. Once more for the balcony.

Rejoice!

And no wonder it’s repeated. It needs to sink in.

As one of those balcony-sitters who needs to hear it over and over, I confess that I tend to cherry-pick both my worries and my prayers.

You know what I mean: Fretting over lots of little things because they seem too trivial to take to God. Or limiting my prayers to big stuff: asking for overall help and guidance or giving thanks in a general (or generic?) way.

That’s not what he said, though.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Those “absolute” words (anything, everything) are what editors typically frown upon and psychologists caution to avoid in relational discussions.

But this is the Lord. We can take Him at His word. No worries: none, zero, nada, zip. Pray about it all: Every.Single.Thing in your heart.

The Lord is at hand. He’s ready for a conversation.

Rejoice!

Second verse same as the first: Rejoice!

I Do Declare: Humor is a funny way to stay fit

When a new acquaintance finds out I’m a writer, I will invariably get The Question: “So what do you write?”

Which is a little bit like asking someone: “So what do you eat?”

Because the answer is pretty much the same: “Everything I want to.”

No, I’m serious (about writing and eating).

My portfolio runs the gamut from nonfiction books and historical fiction novels to news articles and features to business and personal profiles to human interest and tourism stories to white papers and technical documentation to grants and proposals to humor in various media.

And it’s the last item – humor – that got me through (and continues to get me through) the toughest of all other assignments and projects.

My long-term projects (novels) have the occasional light moment, but for the most part, they’re drama fiction. Take, for instance, my historical novel, Turning August, which is set in Germany in World War II and deals with the Resistance. Yeah, a pretty deep subject. Lots of drama.

I wrote a scene (after a huge amount of research) about the Babi Yar Massacre (if you want more info on it, click here … take a deep breath and say a prayer before following the link), and afterward I flopped onto the sofa and sobbed for a long time. The tears would not stop; it was that intense. I called a friend, and she talked me back up into the daylight.

After I calmed down, I remember saying, “Wouldn’t it be weird if I end up in therapy because of a novel I’m writing?”

She thought for a moment and said, “That’s why the light is so important. What you’re writing is important and you need to do it, but you also need to find the light. Find something lighthearted to watch or read – or better yet, something to write.”

Excellent advice from my friend. And she was right – it does help to turn to something lighthearted after such a deep focus on intense drama. Laughter (or humor in general) is healing. Besides being a mood-lifter, it can improve the immune system, sleep quality, and memory, plus a host of other benefits. (Dig deeper into the topic with a few authoritative bits of info here and here and here.)

For me, humor is also a productivity booster. When I take a few moments to create humor pieces, I find that my mood is consistently better, my work on long-term projects is of a higher quality, and I’m eager to get to work every day.

Hence the part of my blog called “Good Cheer,” which includes Belle of the Ballyhoo (a comic strip about a freelancer dealing with all the craziness of contract work) and Vim & Verve (conversations between two alligators who critique movies and TV shows with a lot of snark).

I also highlight a range of memes featuring Reggaetor (an alligator who listens to Bob Marley), Grammarcat (a feline who silently judges your grammar), Writer Girl (a fashion doll always trying to meet her deadlines), Haiku To You Too (silly haikus with amazing photos), and Wine Me Up (exactly what it sounds like).

The Book of Proverbs – ever the astute guide – notes that “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22, NRSV)

I like the “good medicine” of writing humor. It’s a pleasant taste. And it keeps my writing muscles fit.

I Do Declare: The Autumnal Equinox is upon us and it’s time to turn, turn, turn

As soon as the calendar says it’s September, I start getting impatient for autumn.

When we close the books on August, effectively saying “seeeee-yaaa” to summer, what’s needed right then is a celebratory moment (especially as I mentioned in my Substack newsletter, Time and Tide: 9/1 is my unofficial new year).

Why wait? What else is there to do but bring out the pumpkins and winter scarves and apple cider?

Yes, autumn is my favorite, but there’s something elegant and serene about the changing of all the seasons.

Unlike calendar months, with their brusque starts and ends (Not ready for October? Too bad, it’s here.), seasons get eased into.

Introspection and meditation abound. Journal books get filled with thoughts of what has passed and hopes of what will come.

The chill of winter thaws before a flourishing spring that lounges its way through summer until it gears up for the autumn harvest, which gives way to the chill of winter … and so on.

And each season has its own distinct personality. The poets and writers have always known this and have metaphored* the heck out of them. (*Grammarcat will forgive me for verbing “metaphor.”)

Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York. (Shakespeare, from “King Richard III”)

In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. (Alfred Lord Tennyson, from “Locksley Hall”)

Summertime and the living is easy. (George Gershwin, from “Porgy and Bess”)

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
(Shakespeare, from “Sonnet 18”)

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. (Albert Camus)

Trivia time: equinox and solstice

The seasons are also known by their equinox or solstice status.

The equinox (from the Latin meaning “equality of day or night”) occurs twice a year, at the onset of spring and autumn. In each case, the sun crosses the equator and makes daytime and nighttime roughly equal. The spring equinox (or vernal equinox) occurs around March 21, and the autumnal equinox (or September equinox) occurs around September 22 or 23.

The solstice (from the Latin solstitium, made up of sol – “the sun” – and sistere – “to make stand still”) represents the exact moment when the sun reaches its northernmost point (June 21, the summer solstice and the longest day of the year) or southernmost point (December 22, the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year).

Another turn around the sun

Besides their Latin language background and an opportunity for contemplation, the changing of the seasons also serves as reminders – primarily that life is cyclical.

The reminders are inherent, like the air we breathe. To acknowledge or study or attempt to control them, we must draw attention to them. And in doing so, we see that their truths are eternal:

  • That time is fleeting – and increasing in speed. The days stretch out, weeks drag on, months take forever. Finally a year has passed. Then you notice that today is the first day of autumn, except that yesterday summer was starting and a week earlier than that you were heralding the start of spring and that was practically minutes before you felt the first nips of winter. If nothing else, the changing of the seasons reminds us that time moves on – but it does not stop.
  • That this too shall pass. Or as it happens in some years (2020 especially), these too shall pass. As mentioned above, time does move on. And there are times when we are so glad that it does. We all have moments – well, more like days, weeks, months – when we’ve been pushed to the limit. The seasons remind us that often things happen only for a season and that in time, things will change. Thank goodness!
  • That there’s a season for everything. Sometimes no matter what you do, you can’t make it work. Then later, without much effort, the whole thing comes to fruition. What was that about? Just this: Things happen in their season. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 goes into this in great detail. So does the 60s band, The Byrds, with their hit, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” Whichever version you choose, it’s really the same message. When it’s time, it’ll happen.

Today is the first day of autumn. The Autumnal Equinox. A nip in the air. Time for bonfires and oyster roasts and hot chocolate.

I’m ready.