{"id":34516,"date":"2023-12-07T14:08:51","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T22:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=34516"},"modified":"2023-12-07T14:08:51","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T22:08:51","slug":"writing-with-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/writing-with-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing With Light"},"content":{"rendered":"

At this strange time in the world in which we are marching towards a New Year, it is a comfort to look back at this semester at the words we have read, the questions we have asked and the prayers we have prayed. After writing three papers and 11 blogs this year (not counting outside writing any of us do), we all share in common our concerns about leadership, God, human beings, toxic systems, the Church, Body of Christ, broken people\u2013broken but beautiful and incredibly fascinating. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In reading a writing book like Steven Pressfield\u2019s,\u00a0The War of Art<\/em><\/span>, our own writing comes into view, for some it is held under a microscope and for others it is widened. In naming an enemy to completing our writing in this program, the author personifies\u00a0Resistance<\/span>. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Pressfield\u2019s own words he says, \u201cResistance is not a peripheral opponent. Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and self-perpetuated. Resistance is the enemy within.\u201d4\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pressfield\u2019s own battle with resistance seems to stem from his years in the military. \u00a0A former Marine, Pressfield served as a rifleman from 1965 to 1971. He is renowned for his ability to bring war and warrior cultures of all eras back to life. Our writing lives develop in strange and unexpected ways but it does help to know we can learn from all kinds of people on the journey. We are not alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Rather than saying we are writing against the enemy of Resistance, I prefer to say we are Writing with Light, which is the definition of photography. \u00a0What a gift it was to start our semester with a book about Oxford[1]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0preparing us for an amazing Advance to the historical city where I kept thinking how we need more history, not less in our lives. \u00a0Sullivan\u2019s sixty summary pages of the individuals who attended the university still boggles my mind: \u00a0Dudley Moore, Oscar Wilde and C.S. Lewis, just to name a few. Although a dry read at times, the question lighting my way while I was writing the blog post was, \u201cWhat does this history mean for us today as we study leadership?\u201d[2]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Questions Lighting the Way<\/strong><\/p>\n

Questions continued to light my way as we read difficult and disturbing books by Bebbington, Weber, Fukuyama, and Miller whose works ripped me from the comforts of Simon Walker\u2019s books\u2013books that talked about leadership, power and position from a relational lens. Walker\u2019s personal invitation for us to\u00a0Lead out of Who We Are,<\/span>\u00a0stands in stark contrast to those writers who followed. \u00a0So I am asking myself as I write today: \u00a0Was I resisting writing about evangelicalism\u2019s history and the origins of its movement? Or was I writing with light? Perhaps a little of both. Pressfield notes that we can use resistance as a compass, we can navigate it, letting it guide us to that calling or action. \u00a0Turning the pages of\u00a0Identity:The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment,<\/span>[3]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0I managed to make connections with the historical books we were reading with Fukuyama\u2019s work on the social movements of the 1960\u2019s. \u00a0Along with my own questions, my cohort\u2019s posts shed light on the darkness of my thoughts and knowledge. \u00a0Their logical and analytical writing journeys concentrated on examining the coherence, structure and meaning in all the writings. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Collective Writings Light the Way<\/strong><\/p>\n

Simply to list all the books by the great writers we have read isn\u2019t the point of my blog today. I may not agree with all of Pressfield\u2019s musings (or any of our authors), even some who are well known and the best in their field. \u00a0Some are pedantic, some are simplistic, unclear, rather than coherent, some profound and engaging,though many are a mixture of all the above. \u00a0I am more interested and moved by the collective efforts of all the writings: the books, our blog posts, our papers, perhaps because I need to be taught that my own writing, academic, professional or personal, is individualistic, lifeless, selfish unless it is part of a greater community larger than my own. As Pressfield echoes the artist\u2019s wish for their work: \u201cMake this tale live for us in all its many bearings, O Muse.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prayer Lights the Way<\/strong><\/p>\n

This has been a true semester of learning to read and write. \u00a0But I\u2019ve also learned to pray anew with more width and depth\u2013my guess is that\u2019s true of all of you, too. At the end of our Oxford Advance, a few of us spent 24 hours at Waverley Abbey where Dr. Jason Clark is the Principal for the college. \u00a0While there, we met with Jill Weber who hosts the Lectio 365 App and oversees the 24\/7 international prayer movement. She said many good things but here are a few thoughts that stayed:<\/span><\/p>\n

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