For Five Minute Friday, I usually write a short story. The character “magically” appear in my mind along with how they feel and what’s happening. Normally, I can see a scene—a rise in the action and the fall. (It’s a lovely byproduct of telling stories for YEARS…until someone catches you actually talking to yourself.)
But this week, the prompt speak has left me scrambling. It has, ironically, stripped me of words. Bits and pieces of thoughts & characters tumbled through my mind—images of my daughter speaking up for a fellow student, a gentle word from a friend, the struggle to tell the truth—but they’re void of the rise and fall.
And I wonder if there might be a reason for that.
Perhaps “speak” involves more than words. More than a snippet of bravery. More than the momentary vibration of vocal chords.
Maybe speaking has everything to do with a LIFETIME pursuit…a lifetime of action lived.
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So today, I will head out into the world to live my beliefs. I will pursue more than words on a page or words in my mouth and I pray you will join me there. Together we can launch ourselves into a life that speaks.
I am with you–“heading out into the world to live my beliefs.” Words matter and so do our actions. I’m your neighbor at FMF
Praying for you as you head out!
Janyre, I read your post just before we left this morning. I have been thinking about it, rolling it around today. This is what I have to say: I appreciate very much that you assume God’s hand in all things … in this case the absence of words to paint into a story. You are helping me to be expectant of God’s power in this life. Blessings to you, dear friend.
Thank you my friend. Living expectantly is the only way I can survive. Trust is so hard for me sometimes. It has to be a conscious choice to step out. I truly wanted to skip this week…I felt like what entered my mind wasn’t worthy enough to post. But I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to be doing this FMF thing so I pushed the publish button. Thanks for always supporting me. Hope your vacation is going well 🙂
“Maybe speaking has everything to do with a LIFETIME pursuit…a lifetime of action lived.”
I love, love, love that quote. May my life be one that speaks what my Lord wants it to speak. May it touch all who I encounter each day and point them towards the Creator.
Thank you, Janyre, for your encouraging and thought provoking post.
Sue, Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I’m SO glad my thoughts meant something to you and that the Holy Spirit was able to use my words to orient you to him. May you find his love no matter what and no matter when.
Oh, yeah … I forgot about the rule of no editing … after years of submitting I feel exposed if I post (publish) something that hasn’t been run through the self-edit mill. … and then I’ll go in later and edit some more … Loved loved loved this post on SPEAK! Blessings today
I have a love/hate relationship with the no edit rule. It means that I actually post more often, but I’m cringing when I do 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Good luck on fixing your comment section!
Thanks!
With your permission, I’m going to try a very short story here, on ‘speak’. If I’m out of line, please feel free to delete!
The straps of my ruck were biting into my shoulders like living malevolent things, my feet were no longer at home in my boots, and I did NOT want to detour around the big fenced pasture. I could almost see the trailhead, just over the next ridge.
The pasture had one occupant, a bull quietly lying in the shade of a tree. “Like Ferdinand,” I thought. He looked as if he shoud be sniffing flowers.
There was a pickup parked by the fence, and in it sat a weathered old man whose eyes had seen more sun than most, and whose hat had seen less washing.
I waved to him. “Hey, is that bull safe?”
He looked back, put up his hand, and stroked his white, patchy moustache.
Well, I figured, if the bull was dangerous, the old man would have said something. I threw my ruck over the fence, and climbed after it, then hoisted the evilly heavy canvas-and-webbing thing onto my back.
And then the old man spoke. “Bull’s purty safe, Ah reckon.”
I turned to look at him, hand raised in a wave, and feeling my lips curl up in a smile.
He went on. “Cain’t say the same about you, though.”
#2 at FMF this week.
https://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2017/08/your-dying-spouse-351-this-will-all-be.html
Nicely done! I’m glad to know that there’s at least one short story represented for FMF this week 🙂 I couldn’t get a full scene in my head…might have something to do with lack of sleep! Or maybe I was just meant to write non-fiction this week.
Thanks so much, Janyre ! When I saw the words ‘short story’ in your post, this leaped out, like the fully-armed Athena from the head of Zeus. First time that EVER happened to me. 🙂
Well, I’m so glad I helped launch your inner short-story teller…especially such a fierce one! I’m actually a novelist so the stories often come easier than blog posts. Maybe it’s easier for me to pretend to be someone other than myself 🙂
Jane, I love this line with the word LAUNCH: “Together we can launch ourselves into a life that speaks.” Agreed. It takes moving through that chaos and imperfection. I’m glad you wrote even if the story didn’t come quite as you imagined.
Thanks, Christina! Living this kind of life definitely takes a purposeful choice and doesn’t happen by wandering the countryside…although sometimes I feel like my launch looks more like a child in a superhero cape than fully-fueled rocket 🙂