[Published works from the 2007 Literary Ministry Cultivation and Creation Advanced Camp] 1: Writing begins with a dream

“For our gospel came to you not in words only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in full faith.” (1 Thessalonians 1:5)

Ever since I went to school with my schoolbag on my back, I lacked the concepts of mathematical logic. I could only find the joy of learning when I took composition classes. Because my works have been favored and recognized by my teachers many times, I know that my talent in creation is slightly better than the clumsiness of a chicken and a rabbit in the same cage. So I used my imagination to wander through the imaginative world of words, making up dreams one after another.

As I get older, writing for me has changed from casual creation to a way to vent my inner emotions. During those years when hormones were secreting rapidly, I let all my dissatisfaction flow out of my pen without reservation by writing a diary, satisfying my youthful and frivolous self in order to express my sorrows with new words. Each diary entry not only records the struggle of transforming from a child into a teenager, but also reflects the contradictions and expectations of the young mind towards the world.

Unfortunately, due to the pressure of further studies, the time I spent writing diaries was forced to be used to study for exams in the future. The inspiration for creation slowly disappeared in the river of time, and the originally free and unruly heart became heavy and closed as if it was locked.

Time changes in the busyness, and I also follow the turn of the year, stepping out of the campus and into the society. Unfortunately, in the absence of written records, every bit of life is like a boat passing through water without leaving any trace. The dreams I made up in the past were shattered by the cruelty of real life, and my passion for life no longer wavered because of the experience of society.

Touch life with words

Four years ago, due to an unprecedented impact in my life, God led me from the rolling world to Him. He allowed me to remove all my burdens one by one, so that I could rethink and adjust the pace of my life without any pressure or burden.

At a retreat love banquet, I met a sister who came all the way from California. During the conversation, I learned that she serves God through writing. Seeing the wisdom and confidence radiating from her silver hair and red face not only attracted me deeply, but also gave me an inner urge to start writing again. So at the invitation of this sister, I participated in a camp for cultivating literary ministry talents, and began to learn the ingenious integration of faith and writing.

In order to record my new life, I resumed the habit of writing a diary. Different from catching wind and shadow in the void in the past, now I connect the moments of inspiration in my life with God’s words, and learn to use my “heart” to appreciate God’s painstaking efforts and ingenuity in using all things to work together. With the practice of diligently writing inspirational notes, my articles gradually shed their empty shell form and became flesh-and-blood testimonies.

Looking back on the creations in my youth, most of them were "compositions" for the sake of composition, and could not truly touch the inner essence of life with words. As a child, I am arrogant and self-reliant, and I often speak nonsense in articles and think I am right. Now that the scales on my eyes have been removed by God, I can see the weakness, darkness, fear and limitations in human nature. Only then did we realize that human beings cannot rely on their own wisdom to find the core of life. If we don't explore life from a broader perspective, people will always be trapped in their own limited thoughts.

baby in safety net

Since I started writing again because of my faith, every time I write becomes a moment of close dialogue between me and God. I took the pen and pushed aside the contradictions and struggles in my heart. When I peeled off the cocoons, I was surprised to find that there were many hidden wounds in my heart. These wounds are like invisible bombs, waiting for attacks at any time. Unless they are opened through words, they cannot be seen with the naked eye. There was a time when my heart was full of bitterness and I disliked the whole world.

Now, through God’s gentle words, I face the imperfections of myself and the world calmly, and let God’s wisdom deal with the scars in my heart. God showed me that if an author who belongs to Him cannot deal with his own pain first, how can he stir up resonance in people's hearts through writing? However, just like peeling an onion, how many times have I had to hold back my tears and let my incomplete heart be peeled away naked layer by layer: Although the pain was unbearable, in order to heal myself, I could only grit my teeth and endure the pain with hope. .

So writing, for me now, is like a systematic "healing" process, from opening the wound, letting the pus flow out, to disinfecting, and waiting for the wound to heal...each step is closely linked and indispensable. The power of the Creator’s Word works miraculously to disinfect and heal. Those words with authority are like strong shots injected into a dry heart. The Holy Spirit’s sincere comfort and words of faith made me realize that even though I am not perfect, I am still a precious baby in God’s arms. Because He loves me, He allows me to rely on Him in the "safety net" of writing to deal with the darkness and jealousy in my heart, and allows me to live a new life through reflection and examination.

Therefore, writing has become a channel for me to get closer to God. Every time I write, I pray silently, asking the Holy Spirit to enter my heart. Just like Mary at the feet of Jesus, seeking intently, I long for His Holy Spirit to pour upon me, so that I can write like a god! When the Holy Spirit is at work, I feel that I have become gentle and humble, and I have the condescending vision and open-mindedness of my Heavenly Father. That kind of refinement and broadness that escapes human vision and is with God makes the knot that was still brooding a moment ago become calm and gentle under the wings of the Holy Spirit.

Dance gracefully with the Holy Spirit

Write an article at a time on the theme of friendship. The protagonist is a roommate who was incompatible with you in the past. In order to write down my true feelings, I hesitated for a while because it was an unforgettable but unpleasant memory.

Close your eyes, and the unbearable past events emerge one by one. I wanted to write it down lightly and go through it in a few strokes, but I felt like something was missing, and the reading was boring. One day during prayer, the Holy Spirit reminded me to face all my past experiences bravely. Even if it was an unpleasant experience, it was an episode allowed by God in order to teach me to experience and mature in various situations.

When I returned to my desk, my mood suddenly brightened. I simply tore up a few pages of the first draft and started writing again. This time, I allowed my thoughts to return to the scene of the past and boldly described those youthful years. Suddenly I felt a force that gently lifted me off the ground, allowing me to look at my roommates who had offended me with tolerance and forgiveness; it also allowed me to feel the trauma I had suffered with a compassionate and grateful heart.

At that moment, the stone in my heart fell, and I saw that I was carrying a pen, dancing gracefully to the melody in my heart in the starry night sky. It is a waltz that breaks away from the shackles of the old self, and it is also a march composed with confidence and honesty. In the dead of night, my story and my song are about to begin.

Confidence and ingenuity cultivate the fields

Put aside the metaphysical constraints, I am glad that I have finally found the value of writing sincerely. If an article is only packaged with words, it is like stagnant water in a ditch, which can only get in but not get out. However, when the author is willing to write honestly from his heart, the words suddenly become a living life form, flowing into people's hearts like a river. When God created humans, he gave them a spirit that no other creature has. Because of this spirit, people can feel things that other species cannot. Because of this spirit, people can get close to God the Father and inherit His wonderful promises.

However, there is always another force of darkness in the world that competes with the spirit given by God, trying to challenge the power of the Lord of all things, destroy the relationship between man and God, and consume the faith that man seeks to rely on. Therefore, in today's generation, despite the prosperity of science and technology and the explosion of knowledge, people's hearts are facing unprecedented indifference and loneliness. To conquer these isolated islands, those who serve the written word rely not on hard-boiled eight-legged precepts, but on the cry for life from the heart, as well as their reverence and complete trust in the Creator.

Perhaps the speed of text printing cannot keep up with the increasing number of lost souls, but just like when a farmer with a hoe is clearing a barren garden, although he knows nothing about the future, he still works hard and has hope. Because after he sows seeds and fertilizes, the flowers, plants and crops still need the sunshine and rain given by God to thrive.

Faced with many unharvested fields, writers must not only be ingenious, but also have to fear the authority of the Creator and have great faith to wait for the day when the crops mature. Because the spread of the gospel depends not only on words, but also on power, the Holy Spirit, and sufficient faith!