Where Imagination Meets Eternity (A Seriously Write Blog)

I recently came across two articles that spoke to different topics but had a similar message.

One article, from Mirror, in the UK, tells the tale of how a female author by the name of Enid Blyton apparently held a contest back in the day. The winner received a copy of George Elliot’s book, Silas Marner, with an inscription from Blyton congratulating the winner named Mary. The book was then acquired years later via some kind of estate sale by a bookstore in the UK and put on the shelves for one pound (£1). Someone bought the book, took it home, and found the famous author’s signature and note inside, instantly making the book worth several hundred pounds, much to the lament of the used bookstore owner.

The other article was about a Canadian pharmacist by the name of Dr. William Leslie who traveled to central Africa, spending 17 years of his life attempting to evangelize the region. He eventually left Africa believing his mission was a wretched failure. Now, 72 years later, what has developed into a thriving Christian community is nothing short of miraculous.

As writers, we often feel like Dr. Leslie, don’t we? We write stories. We write articles. We blog. We Facebook. We Twitter. We “pin” things of interest on Pinterest. We write more stories and articles, all the while seeing our work go largely unnoticed. It seems to “get noticed” in the exploding, noisy world of publishing requires something miraculous. It takes a great deal of faith and hope to keep after this writing deal we love so much when nothing miraculous is happening.

But who’s to say that one day, a book you signed for a reader or contest winner won’t be worth more than all your books combined? Or who’s to say a flourishing community of fans over the years won’t sprout up in little pockets, little dots on the globe, where you surely believed you had never penetrated?

We often limit ourselves. It’s not that God closes the doors. It’s rather that we do. “Oh ye of little faith” (Matthew 8:26). We sang the songs as kids. “My God is so big, so strong, and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do.” Yet, He has chosen NOT to use us and our writing abilities. That’s what we rationalize, anyway. Instead, we believe God’s chosen Author X or Author Y. “He’s blessing them. Look at their Amazon rankings and number of reviews!”

Could it be that they are selling tons of books but making no impact on society? I’ve never heard of Enid Blyton. She sold 600 million books (partially because she wrote about 300 million…J/K, but close). I’m sure she was an excellent author, but her books didn’t impact me, and I’m sure I’m not alone. Oh, and by the way, none of her books have been made into blockbuster movies, either. Interesting.

Yet, one author who did make an impact on me was Margaret Marshall Saunders. She didn’t write very many novels. I only counted a handful online. The one I read as a boy was Beautiful Joe. It impacted me because I was given this book shortly after our family dog passed away. The one I’d grown up with since being an infant.

I said all that to say this: You just never know who you may be impacting right now, or in the days ahead. So, keep writing. Keep getting better at it. Don’t lose hope. You just never know when somebody wanders into a used bookstore and finds your signature on the inside pages. Or maybe a reader gets inspired and does wondrous things for the kingdom of God in a remote place. Or maybe a little boy finds comfort in your words after a devastating loss.

None of these things can happen if you turn off your computer, toss your pen aside, and say, “I quit.”

Keep writing, my friend, and be faithful to God. He has plans for you (Jeremiah 29:11).

 To see this article on the Seriously Write website, click on the following link:  Seriously Write