The Written Word

I spent this evening ghostwriting a biography for some friends. Had I written this blog an hour ago it would be significantly better composed. After thinking about every single word in a sentence for a couple hours, one realizes the weight of each word, its history, and its subtle implications that it has cultured. After an hour of relaxing, reading and reflecting, my tongue isn't as sharp - but it still feels great to write. I see that setting aside time to write is vital.

A W Tozer said "There are no synonyms". I'm fond of the argument. No two words mean precisely the same thing, even if they are defined so in a dictionary. Each word expresses something of its own. It colors a sentence with its own hue.

Here's a list of the books off the shelf, in stacks by my bed:

James White: Innovator and Overcomer by Gerald Wheeler. A truly inspiring biography of a teacher turned Christian Connexion preacher turned Millerite who became the founder of a denomination, two publishing houses, four journals, one college and still had time to run a nursery, buy and sell real estate and do some mule-driving. Oh, and have a family. Did I say this was inspiring? Makes me glad to be a workaholic. Think of the things that can be done!

Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing by Ellen White. A favorite of mine from the wife of the gentleman above. A book with little notes on the main points of the Sermon on the Mount. Challenging.

My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers. Always a good read. A classic.

The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville (author of Moby Dick). A tedious but rewarding read. There's a boat on the Mississippi and people are really symbols and symbols are really people and characters morph and merge. This book has taught me that puns needn't be humorous. They can be profound.

The Pursuit of God by A W Tozer. Picked this one up again last night. I'm enjoying the revisit.

Why We're Not Emergent (by two guys who should be) by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. This is a book written with grave concern over the Emergent Church. Interesting thoughts so far.

That's it, aside from some journals.

Ha. Three of these books were written over 100 years ago. Another two over 50 years ago. wow.