“And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. . . . And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink” (Acts 9:3-9, KJV).
Persecuted by Societal Shoulds
As Christian writers, do we all need a light-from-heaven conversion experience like St. Paul before we write freely about our spiritual beliefs? Too drastic. I don’t think so. We have been unwittingly persecuting our inner Christian (our devotional self) by abiding by various societal shoulds: Follow your mind, not your heart; Don’t show that you care too much; You’re crazy to have spiritual beliefs in a postmodern world; and Jesus is passé.
Jesus the Revolutionary
Jesus was a revolutionary. He shook up His world. His example of an intimate, inner relationship with the Living God was earth shattering (the Son of God praying to God the Father). God spoke to the individual like Jesus to St. Paul, rather than just speaking to a group, Israel. Of course, God speaking to the prophets presaged this viewpoint.
Blinding Light
So because of Jesus, God’s word can flow through the individual. What does this mean for us as Christian writers? Jesus exemplified courage. We are called to be vehicles of expression for the divine through our writing. If we lack the courage of our convictions, we may find ourselves traveling down the road at night only be transformed by a blinding light.
Photo Credit: Photo by Pete at Flickr Creative Commons.
Linked to Thought-Provoking Thursday
It’s very true that sometimes people see you as crazy if you have spiritual beliefs. But I say I’d rather be called crazy but do what is right in the eyes of my God.
Thank you for your comment of conviction, Garry.
Terry recently posted..The Christian Writer: Light from Heaven