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August 2001 Page 3 |
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There is worth and importance in the act
of fasting, but you can fast until you are blue in the face and if you
fail to “…love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind…” and “love thy neighbor as
thyself,” fasting will not keep you from burning in hell.
There are certain (I call them) secondary doctrinal issues that
will not keep us from our reward in heaven, but they will keep us
separated and divided and hairsplitting with each other while the enemy,
sin, goes merrily along unscathed and unnoticed and doing his thing.
Satan loves the issue of fasting.
He loves the issue of the woman’s role in the church.
He loves the debates over custom and tradition versus (what I
call) real world, urban theology. Satan
loves talk of hats and earrings and neckties and pants suits and
processed hair and corn rows and putting your finger in the air and
color of robes and length of sermons and Holy Ghost versus Holy Spirit
and who sits where and who does what.
Satan loves that stuff. As long is we stay mired down in trivial talk about secondary
issues he can come and go and seek and destroy to his evil heart’s
content. Understanding all
of everything is not the point. The
Apostle Paul told us “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then
face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I
am known”. We’re going to have plenty of time to
talk about philosophy and mysteries and knowledge when we get to heaven.
That song we sing says, “We’ll understand it better, by and
by”. There is a whole lot
of stuff that we just do not know right now. The time for those investigations and inquiries will come
after a while. But as for
now, ours is a job to “…seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and [let the glories of God] be added unto you”. There
are times when telling, of course, can enhance the story, and prepare
the reader for peak moments or events. Telling slows the action and
prepares the reader for the big event. Even in this case, it’s best
not to do too much telling. The end result
- the reader becomes bored or disinterested. In
the examples below, try your hand at changing them so that they are more
descriptive. He
kissed her briefly. She trembled and felt weightless. After
you have mastered the art of showing vs. telling, revise again. Writing
is revising and revising and revising. Keep writing. Idelia P. Phillips began her professional career as a biologist. She has a B.S. in Biology & Chemistry from Siena College, an MPH in Public Health from the University of Tennessee, and a doctorate in Public Health from the University of South Carolina. She and her husband, Andrew, an environmental project manager, live in Florida. Visit her site at: http://members.tripod.com/ip123/index.htm
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The
category of the Amateur-Unintentional
have grown with the addition of Atlanta Journalist Patricia Conley
(Coleman, 1998), Baltimore Journalist Darryl Billups (Walker, 1997),
Self-centered beauty Jewel Averick (Saxton, 1997), Street musician Nanette
Hayes (Carter, 1997), NewOrleans Journalist Aimee Dubois (Edwards, 1997),
Educated cleaning woman Ruby Gordon (Banks, 1998) and semi-retired
travelers Joe and Dottie Loudermilk (Haywood, 1994). Unlike the
traditional mainstream amateur-unintentional, there is a great deal of
room in which to incorporate many other occupations and characters
consistent with the growth of African-Americans in mainstream professions. Lee
Meadows attended Michigan State University where he earned a BA
in Telecommunications, an MA in Counseling and Adult Development and a
Doctorate in Higher Education and Management. Check out our GREAT site
called www.blackretail.com
. We have music, movies, electronics, books, flowers, sporting goods and
much more. Our site is one of
the largest Black owned shopping sites and was launched on April 15, 2001.
The best part about our site is that 5% of its profits are donated
to charitable causes that support African American communities.
Please help us make this site a success by visiting often and
forwarding our URL to everyone you know.
Also, by just telling three friends about this site you could win a
Digital Camera. Check BlackRetail.com for details. We plan to make our
first donation in July 2001. Your
support is greatly appreciated in making a meaningful first donation. I would also like to thank the many authors and aspiring writers who have expressed an interest in being guest columnists in the upcoming editions of LitLine. I plan to schedule everyone who wants to be a guest columnists as long as the material they wish to have published meets the guidelines and criteria of the newsletter. Please feel free to contact me to obtain the guidelines if you are interested in contributing to LitLine. The writer's contest has been extended through August 31, 2001 to give entrants an opportunity to submit their best stories. For those who are planning to enter the contest, please hold your entries, make any changes you wish since the deadline has been extended to midnight, August 31, 2001, Eastern Time. The contest rules have been updated to reflect this extension. LitLine has grown
in the few months since it's debut to include CD of
the Month, Question of the Month and Book of the Month.
We welcome any comments and
suggestions for making LitLine even better. We hope to
add additional features as we grow. I encourage other
authors, readers and aspiring writers to submit
material to LitLine for publication. God bless and much success to everyone in all that we do. Remember through God, all things are possible!
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