Category Archives: Bible study

Bible study, books, C.S. Lewis, Writing

Finding Help…in My Library

3 Comments
Eight of the fourteen bookcases in The Dungeon

I love a library, be it large or small, new or old, plain or fancy. Little in life is better than finding stacks of books. Any time I can I go to a library. Any more I don’t check out a lot of books, but I still enjoy browsing, pulling them from the shelf, sitting and reading for a while until my allotted time is up. Or, sometimes I just pull out a magazine I enjoy and read that.

An online library is just as good—almost. The selection is typically better, if of books that are older. Reading is still possible, though perhaps not quite as enjoyable as getting out and reading from paper in my hands.

While I’m pleased to have a number of C.S. Lewis books, I don’t have enough. May more purchases be in my future?

This week I had need of a library. I’m writing a Bible study. That’s my latest work-in-progress. Have I talked about that on the blog before? I’ll have to check to see if I did and, if not, schedule a post to describe the project. Briefly, it’s titled Acts Of Faith, and each chapter has a biblical story about someone who did something on faith and the difference that made in a life or in the world. The second part of each chapter talks about a Christian from after the Bible period who also did an act of faith that made a difference.

The chapter I was to write was about the conversions of Zacchaeus and C.S. Lewis. Zacchaeus’ was fairly easy. I knew Lewis’ would be easy because I had read about it years ago in his book Surprised By Joy. How long ago? Maybe forty years? Long enough ago to know exactly what I was looking for but not so long that I had the book wrong. So, I go to my shelf where I keep my C.S. Lewis books and…no copy of Surprised By Joy is present.

No problem. It must be in the storeroom where I have a bookcase of literary books. Nope, not there either. No problem. It must be upstairs in one of two places where we keep shorter, inspirational books. Nope, not there either. No problem. We have a built-in bookcase in the living room. I wouldn’t expect this book to be there, but it must be. Nope, not there either. That meant it had to be in a box in the storeroom. Finding it there would be an impossibly time-consuming task.

But then I thought, that was so long ago, perhaps I borrowed the book from someone or from a library. Yes, that must be it. That would mean I could check it out from a library here. I wasn’t planning on being close to one anytime soon, but I could go if needed. I checked on line card catalogs of my closest two libraries. Nope, they didn’t have it. The book is new enough to be in copyright so I knew I wouldn’t find it in an on-line library. Nothing to do but buy a copy. Through the miracle of e-books I could have a copy in hand in only minutes.

I went to two different online retail locations and found Surprised By Joy. Both had it as an e-book, but at a ridiculously high price. A book by a famous author can command a good price. I wasn’t willing to pay that, not right away at least. Let me look one more time in my library.

Yes, my library. You see, we have way too many books in our house, maybe as many as 3,000. I need to get rid of some, but find that hard to do. For years I figured I’d read them in retirement. But retirement is here and I’m too busy writing to make a dent in the number of too-be-read books in the house. Yes, if I read two or three a month and then get rid of them, at some point I’ll see that dent being made. Until then, we have our own library.

I did have a copy of “Surprised By Joy” after all. I just needed to do a better job of looking.

I went back to the shelf that I checked first, the one where I thought the book should be. There were a number of C.S. Lewis books, which I saw earlier when I looked. Two of them I haven’t read, have barely opened. One, titled The Timeless Writings of C.S. Lewis, is a collection of his theological works pulled together by his estate. The other, The Beloved Works of C.S. Lewis, had four of his books, again collected and published by his estate. I looked closer at it, and the first book in this book was…Surprised By Joy.

Wow, I didn’t realize I had it! Pulled it from the shelf, spent about an hour reading in the places I remembered, and I had my information and quotes for the chapter. Another hour and I had the rest of the chapter written. An exorbitant price for an e-book avoided, progress made on my book.

So, I did find it in a library. It just turned out it was my own library.

Bible study, Documenting America, miscellaneous, Writing

A Creative Spurt

2 Comments
I don’t know how others feel, but I’m new enough to baking that it still seems creative to me.

After writing last week about what to write next, I made my decision and did it. I worked on Acts Of Faith Bible study on both Saturday and Sunday. I didn’t spend a lot of time on them, but found the words flowed quickly and easily. Research went well. By the time Sunday was over I was about halfway through Chapter 5. This morning, before getting to other activities, I came close to completing Chapter 5. Not really, because I plan on re-reading and editing it later today. But, as it sits right now, completing Chapter 5 today should be an easy thing.

What else? I began reading Documenting America: Making The Constitution Edition aloud to my wife, scratching edits as I go. I read four chapters (out of 32) last night, seeing a fair number of places where it will benefit from editing. I hope to type some of those edits today. The Introduction especially needs both tightening and expansion.

The cooking prep for my experiment. I actually haven’t had one yet. Reports are that they were good. I’ll have one tomorrow.

What else? I wrote a letter to one of my grand-nephews. That may not seem like a creative thing, but it is/was.  I also baked, a blackberry cobbler—from blackberries I picked—and some banana bread. They turned out well. Then, Sunday morning, I fixed English muffin omelet sandwiches to take to Life Group for our fellowship breakfast. I don’t know that they turned out so well and may not fix them again. It was an experiment, trying something my own mind conceived, so I count that and the baking as creative endeavors.

I spent a good amount of time outside, listening to the birds as I worked. Didn’t see this little guy around however.

While being creative, I didn’t neglect other things. As the first activities on Saturday I updated the checkbook and budget. On Sunday I took care of some miscellaneous receipts, the type that seem to defy even a comprehensive filing system. I weeded in our back yard and did other light yard work. I cleaned a matt of bugs off the front of our newer van, bugs that had decided to join us on our last two road trips. Both vans need washing, but that will be a task for another day. Sunday, Lynda and I went for a walk after the heat of the day passed. Not a long walk, but enough to get the juices and sweat flowing.

I kept up with my reading in three books, now having one more to review. Reading I see as sort of a creative activity. As I read my mind is usually thinking about writing, either the writing I’m reading or the writing I could do from the subject I’m reading about.

So, all in all I’m pleased at how the weekend went. If I can be that creative for the full week ahead of me, I will be on Cloud 9.

Adam Of Jerusalem, Bible study, Church History Novels, Documenting America, Short Stories, The Gutter Chronicles, Writing

What to Write Next?

Leave a comment
My most recent publication. Sales are trickling in. Literally.

For my Friday June 28 post I had planned to do my book review of Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life In Letters. But based on the weekend just past, I’m pushing that post into the future. Instead, I want to document the process I’m going through.

What should I write next? I just finished the first draft of Documenting America: Making The Constitution Edition. I’m letting it sit for a week or two before I hit the editing process. The first two chapters have gone to my critique group, with good reviews. What to do next? Here are the most obvious choices, based on my recent thoughts, research, and publications.

  • The next volume in my church history novels series. This is to be sandwiched in between #2 and #3. Tentatively titled The Sayings, it will cover the writing of the Didiche, which many scholars believe was written before many of the New Testament books. A loose plot line was in my head even as I wrote Preserve The Revelation, #4 in the series. With Adam Of Jerusalem, #1 in the series, now published, completing the foursome makes sense.
  • The next volume in The Gutter Chronicles: The Continuing Saga of Norman D. Gutter, Engineer. I ought to write this before I get too far into retirement and forget the stories of working as an engineer. I’ve begun the outline, and know where the first couple of chapters are going.
  • The next volume in Documenting America. This has turned out to be a good series, with three published already and the fourth a month or two away from publication. Once I know the topic these come together quickly. Another volume or two might result in critical mass and an increase in their popularity.
  • The next short story in the Sharon Williams Fonseca, CIA Agent series. I have four written and know what the fifth one will be about and it’s probable title: “Tango Delta Foxtrot”. This has been on my radar for some time, always with “as soon as I finish the book I’m on” schedule. But then another book bubbles up and this one gets shunted aside. Maybe it’s time. I have a basic outline of the plot.
  • A Bible study titled “Acts Of Faith”. I programmed this about four months ago (I think, maybe a little longer), one evening when I was brainstorming curriculum for future Life Group studies. I spent some time recently outlining this, and even creating the first computer files. This for sure would be next except, while I’ve taught Bible studies and prepared them from scratch, I’ve never written one for publication. That may be what happens here. Or, perhaps this will be the first to be developed, published, and taught.
  • A genealogy book, tentatively titled Samuel Cross and Elizabeth Cheney of Ipswich Massachusetts. This book is 80 percent written, maybe more. It’s meant to form a part of a larger work about Elizabeth Cheney’s father, John Cheney of Newbury. But the research is done and it is long enough to stand alone as a small genealogy book. It lacks only a little text, then the formatting for publication. I could have this ready for publication in less than a month if I re-started my work on it.
I’ll soon be creating a cover for “Documenting America: Making the Constitution Edition”. It will be a simple re-creation of this one.

There you have it. Six potential writing projects, all good, all desired (by me), all fulfilling the writing urge and maybe meeting a need. What will be next? I’m writing this on Monday, June 24, but scheduled to post on Friday June 28. My intent is to add something to it before it posts, to let everyone know either what I’ve decided, or at least what progress I’ve made in deciding. I’ll see if there’s a new ending to this post.

Update Tuesday June 25: Yesterday and today I wrote the first chapter in Acts Of Faith. The first draft came in at about 2,150 words, shorter than I thought it would, but perhaps about right for a Bible study book. I picked up a reviewer, a pastor/counselor, and have sent the first chapter to him. I’ll be anxious to see what he thinks.

The writing of this felt good. Since this is the most urgent need, should I indeed publish it and teach it beginning around mid-September. If so, I need to get on the stick.

Update Wednesday June 26: This morning I did another half-chapter of Acts Of Faith. It flowed easily. Yesterday afternoon I wrote the outline—more of a synopsis actually—for the next novel in my Church History Novels series.  My evening reading unintentionally dovetailed with this, and the plot flowed easily. Makes me wonder if this book needs to be next. I’ll think on it.

Update Friday June 28: I have now completed two chapters (out of 17) in Acts Of Faith. The words have flowed fairly easy. The pastor/counselor I sent the first chapter  to said he believes it to be a viable study and offered to help write discussion questions.

So, this is my next project. I’m hoping to finish the first draft by August 1, though that may be too ambitious. For sure I’m going to spend a lot of time with the writing.

 

Bible study, Life Group lessons

You Don’t Know the Scriptures

Leave a comment

Our adult Life Group (a.k.a. Sunday School) is still in the midst of our Easter study. This is because my co-teacher, a couple of years ago, mused about whether we could do a beginning-to-end Easter study one year, beginning with the Triumphal Entry through Easter day.

The main problem with that is the volume of material. I worked it out, and determined that you had more than 60 lessons to do if you didn’t skip anything. I don’t like to skip things, so that was a dilemma. I worked out a program where we did that in five parts, meaning you do one part each year. My co-teacher agreed with that.

Year one covers Sunday-Monday-Tuesday of Holy Week. Yesterday we had lesson #10 in that, covering when the Sadducees questioned Jesus about the resurrection. It was a bogus, exaggerated question, not for illumination rather than to support their ill-informed beliefs. Jesus, of course, destroyed those beliefs quite easily.

Do you remember the story? Using the Levirate marriage, as defined in Deuteronomy 25:5-10, the Sadducees said a man married, had no children, and left his widow for his brother to marry. He did so, and died in the same status. This went on for seven brothers, all who died, then the woman died childless. Their question was: At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since she was married to the seven brothers?

Jesus’ answer was: You err because 1) you don’t know the scriptures, and 2) you don’t know the power of God. The Sadducees considered only the five books of Moses as authoritative. Naturally their question came from that source. So, naturally, Jesus’ answer came from that source as well.

First, he said they didn’t understand what the resurrection would be like. In it would be no marriages, births, death. It won’t be like life on earth, extended to another realm. Those thought worthy of the resurrection would become like angels, who have no need for such earthly activities. So Jesus answered their question: Yes, silly Sadducees, there is a resurrection but she won’t be anyone’s wife in it.

But Jesus went on to prove there would indeed be a resurrection. In the account of the burning bush, Jesus said that God said to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Since they had all died centuries before Moses lived, if both their bodies and souls had died, God couldn’t have said that. He would have had to say, “I was the God of…”, of something similar. Instead, He said “I am the God of….” Thus, He is the God of the dead.

The Sadducees rejected the concept of an afterlife and resurrection because it isn’t explicitly stated in scripture. Jesus showed them sometimes you have to dig deeper. See what the words imply but may not state as clearly as you’d like them to say something. The truth is there, if you just know the scripture through deep study.

Concerning the power of God, it is also seen in the account of the burning bush. The bush in the desert burned, but wasn’t burned up to embers and ashes. It remained an intact bush. A miracle? It was certainly something that defied the laws of nature, so, yes, it was a miracle. It was a demonstration of the power of God. The God who could make a bush burn but remain a bush could make a resurrection happen.

My final words in class were: Don’t be like the Sadducees. Know the scripture, and know the power of God. We discussed how we can do this.

It was a good class. Sixteen of us had the chance to see what the scripture was really telling us, and what the power of God was like. I hope we all take Jesus’ words to heart and really, really get to know the scriptures and his power.

Bible study

More on the Parable of the Two Sons

Leave a comment

It’s funny how time causes your thoughts to fade. Maybe not funny; maybe tragic, unfortunate, unintended?

My last blog on the parable of the two sons was written several days before it actually posted, perhaps last Tuesday. At that time I had much more to say about it. Now it’s Monday, six days later, and I can’t really remember what it was I still felt compelled to say. How maddening is that?

Looking at my teaching notes, I see the parable ended with Jesus’ clear denunciation of the Jewish leadership at the time, maybe of the Jewish nation. When Jesus put the question to those who had confronted him [chief priests, elders, teachers of the law], they answered correctly: The son who said he wouldn’t go work in the vineyard but who actually did was the one who did what his father wanted.

Jesus then said, “…tax collectors and sinners are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” And, he referred back to John the Baptist, about whom the Jewish leaders had just refused to answer a question, because any answer to the question would have exposed their hypocrisy.

In our Life Group lesson,  after discussing what this parable meant to the original hearers, we considered what this parable means for us today. As Gentiles, none of us were part of God’s chosen people. But, as believers in Jesus, we are grafted into the vine of Israel, and so have become part of God’s chosen people. So it’s important for us to dig into it and extract a lesson for us.

Why had the Jewish leaders rejected the preaching of John the Baptist?

  • They were comfortable in their positions
  • “We have ours; tough about the rest of you”
  • They weren’t evangelical, were not trying to spread what they believed was their superior religion
  • Their practices left no room for repentance and turning to God
  • They functioned without love

All of these are traps that the evangelical church can be snared it.

That’s the lesson for us today. We have to look at this parable as if we were in the position of the Jewish leaders, and Jesus says we aren’t part of the kingdom of God. I try to constantly do that, to watch for hypocrisy in my own life, and take care to make my doctrine, my speech, and my walk all align perfectly with the teachings of Jesus.

It’s not easy to do, but it’s something I must keep trying to do.

Bible study, Life Group lessons

I Will Not, Father

Leave a comment

One son said, “I will not” when asked by his father to work in the vineyard.

The other son said, “I will” when asked the same thing.

Would they do what their father wanted? Will you do what your Father wants?
[an etching by Georg Pencz, public domain]
Yet, both of these sons did the opposite of what they said. The obstinate one seems to have changed his mind, for later in the day, if his father had gone to look, he would have found this son hard at work, doing whatever the vineyard required at the particular season of the year. The first son, so willing to say he would go, would instead be found somewhere other than the vineyard, apparently at his ease.

When Jesus told this story, as recounted in Matthew 21:28-32, He said nothing about the motivation of the three people involved. Why does the father ask his sons to work? Is it a small farm and they have no servants? Would they normally work in the vineyard but, for whatever reason, neither had at that point in the day gone to do so? Are they perhaps young boys, not adult sons, who are just learning about what was needed to tend an agricultural property?

Work needed in the vineyard will vary depending on time of year and maturity of the plant. So, too, God’s work for us will vary.
[photo by Sanjay Acharya; shared via creative commons license]
Then, I wonder why the two sons changed their minds. The one who said, “I will” may have intended to go but, stepping outdoors, decided the heat of the day was too much, he hadn’t slept well enough for the labor, and decided he wouldn’t go. Or possibly he never intended to go, and his positive response was just to put his father off. The one who said, “I won’t go” might have been filled with remorse, especially if his father had a negative countenance after the son’s refusal. Or, perhaps he was teasing his father and intended to surprise him by going to the vineyard and working hard.

Speculation like this is kind of fun, but perhaps does nothing to help us understand the message Jesus has for us from this story. Neither son did what he said he would do. One spoke well but behaved poorly. One spoke poorly but behaved well. If these were your choices in life, you would most likely want to do well after having spoken poorly rather than do poorly after having spoken well.

I see a third option, however: to speak well and to do well. When the Father asks you to go work in His vineyard, don’t hesitate. Do what He asks of you. Go without hesitation. Go with joy that the Father has thought you worthy of some task, something that will improve His kingdom.

This was where our Life Group was a couple of Sundays ago, as we continued our series “A Walk Through Holy Week”. We had good interaction. Our group likes to talk, and I can usually fill the time just by asking a few questions. I think we all enjoyed digging deeply into this parable.

Alas, I’ve reached my desired word count but still have more to say. Look for part two of this, probably on Monday.

Bible study, Writing

I Will Awaken The Dawn

3 Comments
Sunrises are always inspiring.
Wikimedia Commons user TeemuN. Link to license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

One of the bad things about being a writer—at least for me—is that every good thought you have, every good thing you read, becomes an idea for writing.  Why oh why can’t I be like other people and just enjoy what I read without thinking I have to derive something from it?

My morning devotional reading is in Psalms. I was quite regular in my devotions when I was a working man, taking a moment with coffee at my desk at work to read something in scripture and pray before starting my day. I admit, however, to my shame, that I lost this discipline once I retired. I started that back up last week, and have faithfully read the Psalms each morning since, before I wake up my computer.

But I digress. On Tuesday, I read Psalm 57. You know how they say (whoever they are) that every time you read something in the Bible, no matter how many times you’ve read it before it becomes new for you again? Well, it turned out to be true for me that day. The key verse was 57:8, which reads

Awake, my soul!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.

That last phrase hit me. “I will awaken the dawn.” What does that mean? I pondered it. It speaks to me of anticipating the day, of rising before dawn and saying that you can’t wait for the day to begin and see everything God has in store for you on this day.

The Psalms are a comfort to many readers.
Public domain

That doesn’t always happen, does it? Some days your normal waking time comes and it’s all you can do to swing your legs out of bed and find the floor. Standing up is a struggle, never mind going about your getting-up activities.

The psalmist didn’t seem to have that problem. He was so anxious to get going with the day that he called for his soul to wake up, for his harp and lyre to wake up, and together they would summon the dawn to get a move on.

That’s the kind of start to the morning I want to have.

So, I have this new encouragement to begin the day in a positive way. That was Tuesday. On Wednesday I read Psalms 58. I saw that the words under the title, which would actually be the first words in the text since these psalms weren’t numbered when they were written, were “For the director of music. To the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy’. Of David. A miktam.”

I remembered that quite a few psalms give the tune it is to be sung to. I checked the last several I’d read. For Psalm 57 it was also to the tune of “Do Not Destroy”. For Psalm 56 it was to “A Dove on Distant Oaks”. Psalm 60 is to “The Lily of the Covenant”. Other psalms in this part of the book have other song names attached to them.

Immediately, a possible book came to mind. I’m not going to give the details of it at this point. In fact, I’m still working it out, though, like many of my book ideas, what it will be from beginning to end has pretty much flashed before my eyes.

Is it a do-able book? Would anyone ever want to read it, or, like the rest of my books, will it sell around 20 copies and be forgotten?  Will I ever get it written? Perhaps someday you’ll find a book of that title by me, for sale at Amazon and other fine retailers. Or perhaps not.

Lots of questions. Time will reveal a few answers, I hope.

 

Bible study, miscellaneous, reading, trials

A Self-Taught Lesson

2 Comments

In recent weeks I have experienced three instances where “wrongs” were done against me, at least in my perception. I don’t want to go into any details. Let’s just say that two of the three are certain, while the third is “iffy”.

The last two of these, the certain ones, were on the same day,  almost on top of each other. It threw me for a loop for a couple of days. I went around depressed—not a clinical type depression, but more of a  wondering how to handle the two situations. One of them, if I didn’t want to, I would never have to see the person again. The other didn’t include that luxury. The third, the lesser one, was more a case of where I was very disappointed in someone’s words, words not directed at me but at a situation in life in general.

If I remember correctly, the two things happened on a Friday. Saturday evening, as is my habit, I took a look at the Life Group lesson I would teach the next day. It was Jesus cursing the fig tree, it shriveling up, and how he taught the disciples from this. It’s found in the two of the gospels, Matthew and Mark. I studied from my “Harmony of the Gospels”. It’s been enjoyable to use my own study tool for this series.

Jesus cursed the fig tree on Monday of Holy Week. He said, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” It was on Tuesday, when they passed the same way to go to Jerusalem that the disciples noticed the tree had withered. They questioned Jesus about how this happened, to which he replied that through prayer this was possible, using his metaphor of the mountain being cast into the sea.

But then, he added something, sort of the unsolicited advice he gave when he noted the true condition of someone’s mind and heart before they did. He said, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sin.” This particular teaching is found in Matthew but not Mark.

This hit me hard. I realized I held something against someone, against three someones. If I were praying, and if I expected my prayers to be successful, I needed to forgive them. I wasn’t to wait for them to realize the wrong they’d done and ask for forgiveness. My forgiving them was to be instantaneous, and not asked for. This wasn’t something to delay into the future, when next we meet.

As I studied my lesson, I kept coming back to that concept. Maybe the things I held against these people weren’t wrongs at all. Perhaps my perception of what they did was wrong. Perhaps what they did was unintentional: they didn’t recognize what the consequences of their action or words would be. None of that mattered. I was to forgive.

My forgiveness would be for me, not for them. They wouldn’t know about it. The scripture doesn’t say I’m to seek them out and express this forgiveness to them. How would that sound? “Hey, sir or madam, you don’t realize you wronged me, and you haven’t asked for forgiveness, but I forgive you anyways.” No, I don’t think that’s what Jesus intended. You forgive, immediately, whether they ever ask or not.

So, I did that. I forgave each of them, and hold no animosity to them. In one case I could see that the person was actually helpful, but did so in a clumsy way. Another was a simple mental lapse due to disorganization, certainly with no evil intent. The third is a difference of opinion, and will likely forever remain so. I ought to be able to allow others to have different opinions without holding a grudge.

I learned my lesson. Let’s hope that I’ll be able to put it into practice going forward without having those bad moments of moping about wrongs or perceived wrongs.

Adam Of Jerusalem, Bible study, Christianity, Documenting America, History

We Interrupt this Book Review to…Write

Leave a comment
This is close to the cover I want to use for “Adam Of Jerusalem”, but I can’t find the copyright holder of the photo. I’m probably wrong in even posting it here.

In my last post I wrote part 1 of a two-part review of John Locke’s Two Treatises on Government. I said I would do the next part soon. However, soon is not today. Instead, I’m going to write about what I’m writing, and what I’m preparing to write.

I have two books in progress, one complete and being edited, one being written. The first is Adam Of Jerusalem. I finished this in mid-December 2018, let it sit a few weeks over the holidays, then began editing in mid-January. I think those dates are right; it’s all kind of blurry without looking at my diary. I’ve made three editorial passes, and given the book to three beta-readers. I have figured I would publish it then.

But, in January I joined a newly-formed writers critique group. I decided to run AOJ by them. They didn’t like chapter 1 in January or chapter 2 in February. Not enough description they said. Too much getting from point A to point B without flourishes. Alas, that must be the engineer in me.

So I went through these two chapters looking for places to add some description, some of what I call extraneous information that gives the reader a better experience, that makes them feel like they were there when the action was taking place. It caused chapter 2 to increase in length 25 percent. If I did that for the entire book, the novel would go from 72,000 words to 90,000 words. That’s not awful, but I would have to think about that.

Still, I decided to go on with this for a few more chapters at least. Last night I re-edited chapter 5, having completed 3 and 4, and found a number of places to add those flourishes. I’ll type these last edits sometime today and step back and see how it looks to me. I imagine I’ll go on with this while waiting on beta-readers to get back to me.

And, perhaps, a fourth to this one? Yes: Making The Constitution Edition, hopefully in 2019. Update: It will come in 2019!

Then, my current writing project is Documenting America: Making The Constitution Edition. I’ve written about this series before many times, and this particular volume. At some point, around February 12, I began gathering source documents and completed the editing and writing of one chapter on February 18. Yesterday I completed the twelfth chapter (out of 31 or 32) and edited the source document for the thirteenth. I did that in the evening in manuscript, so will be typing that today.

Meanwhile, as I work on DA:MCE, I’m coming across material I realize I can use in a future edition. I don’t know what I’ll do next. The choices are many. I read some inspiring, early abolition works, and thought that a volume on the abolition movement might be good. So I created folders on my computer and began seeking out source documents for that. I’m a long way from doing anything with this book, but maybe, just maybe, I’m starting it the right way. Except, I should start a writing diary for it, even if it will have major time gaps in it.

One other project that I’m (somewhat) actively working on is a Bible study I developed and taught some years ago called Sacred Moments. It’s a study of the sacraments and the importance of them in the life of the Christian. They are sacred moments. I had a little trouble finding the files I created on that years ago. On a shelf in my closet, in an unmarked, green three-ring binder, I found the paper copies—preserved in sheet protectors, no less. Digging around in files transferred from an old computer, I found the computer files. I transferred them into my cloud storage.

I have no schedule for working on Sacred Moments. I feel I must do more research if I’m to publish it as a Bible study. It will be the first of those critters for me, and I would want to do it right. I did lots of research before, and even some after, but too many years have passed since I developed and taught it, so I’ll have to re-do some of that research.

That’s pretty much it. One other, more minor, task I want to work on soon is to get my ideas notebook in shape. I found it this week, on that closet shelf. I can’t remember the last time I looked at it. I’m thinking that may be a Sunday task, with a mug of coffee, in the sunroom.

 

 

Adam Of Jerusalem, Bible study, Genealogy, Life Group lessons, miscellaneous, research, Writing

Writing In Retirement

Leave a comment

Well, you would think that, after almost a week of retirement (five days, actually, today being the beginning of the sixth), I would have accomplished much on writing. You would be wrong.

I actually started the year spending more time on genealogy and stock trading than anything else. Stock trading because it’s a new year, I needed new spreadsheets, and I needed to be active in it and try to make some money. Genealogy because I love to do it so much, and I had some new leads—or rather a little bit older leads I’d been holding off on until retirement. Following those leads now.

I’ve been holding off on writing also because I had much to do in life, and I knew retirement was coming. But retirement came, and I felt that I needed to get a few other things done first. Lynda is ill, with the flue, and it doesn’t seem to be going away quickly. Perhaps she had bronchitis as well. So I’m having to do some things for her. It’s not a burden, however. I’m glad the family sickness passed me by and I’m able to pick up the load.

I haven’t been totally absent on writing, however. A few days ago I saw a notice in a Bella Vista Facebook page about a new writing critique group someone want to form. I contacted her, and it looks as if it will happen, a once-a-month group at her house. I’m looking forward to that.

Last night I pulled out the manuscript of Adam Of Jerusalem, and began going through it looking for places where I’d marked I needed to add Adam’s backstory. Found them, and began to work on that backstory. I have the notebook next to me, in The Dungeon, and will work on it today.

These are somewhat feeble efforts, however. I wanted to get some other things done first. I felt that writing time would come shortly, and I needed to get my family budget up to date first, then file receipts, then clean up certain clutter stacks, then start a jigsaw puzzle (yes, did that yesterday). Saturday I made wonderful progress on all of these, which gave me freedom of mind to do a little on writing yesterday. Oh, yes, somewhere along the way I knew I needed to start doing some more healthy things. I’ve been doing that, though I need to ramp it up some still. Over time, over time.

Another thing I did was work some (on Saturday, I think it was), on the outline/programming of a Life Group lesson series my co-teacher and I had discussed. I like the way it’s coming together. It concerns Jesus’ activities during Holy Week. Three of the planned lessons might be a little thin on teachable/discussable material, so I’m doing a little more research on them. I should finish that today.

The last thing I’ve done is try to plan out what exactly I’m going to write in 2019. I have a list of things. I don’t know if it’s complete yet, and it’s certainly not prioritized. It reflects my Genre Focus Disorder; it reflect the fact that I have much I want to write; it also reflects that I now see myself with more time to write than I ever had before. I intend to work on that list this week, and maybe have it in shape to report it on my Friday blog.

Planning is fine, but doing is better. Time to leave this and post it, and get to my other work. See you all on Friday.