A Spring Thing cont.

Whatever it is, let’s make the commitment to begin that special project this spring.   Each season offers it’s own unique beauty and it’s own set of challenges and opportunities.  Spring is the time when we open our doors and windows (those who don’t have allergies, that is) to allow the fresh smell of flowers, trees and grass inside to permeate our homes with its reminder that the outdoors has come to life.  Spring is the time of year when we can open our windows at night and allow the breeze inside to cool our homes while we sleep.  Spring is the time of year when we begin to go outside and plan and partake in activities that will continue until fall.  It’s the time of year when we shed our heavy coats, our wool hats, our gloves and boots (those of us not living in warm climates) for a more casual type of clothing.  I often marvel at the seasons, but spring offers something special that is unmatched by any of the other times of year.

From a spiritual perspective, spring offers the most important time of year in the Christian calendar.  For it is in the spring that we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the significance that holds in the Christian faith.

So this spring, let us first be thankful to God for allowing us to once again see spring, and after we have given God the praise, honor and glory for His unfailing love and bountiful blessings, let’s tackle that special something that we have either put off or that we haven’t had the courage to pursue. 

Let the spring of 2001 be the time that we overcome our fears, our doubts and our disappointments and replace those negatives with renewed hope, faith, and love for God and for one another.  

Spiritual Space cont.

Our world is not what it should be.  Period.  You can go into denial over it if you choose, but when you decide to come out, the reality will still be the same.  The standards of life and living have, for a myriad of reasons, been on the decline for decades.  The slide was innocent and subtle at first.  But now that we have reached the point in life where we are able to reflect over years, we are able to see a great shift from where we were to where we are.  I found myself telling my brother the other day “You know we were raised better than that!”  (Am I becoming my parents?  God forbid.)  The destruction of the core structure of all that has made us what we are is, at best, disturbing.  And which is worse, far too many of us stand idly by, surrounded by an army of nay sayers, all swaggering in the stench of decay and feeling absolutely helpless.

“Ye are the light of the world.  A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.”  Are you listening?  Our help is not in a bottle or for sale over the Internet.  Jesus, in his Magna Carte of self help gave us the answer we have been looking for.  We are the light.  If the darkness of ignorance and decadence is going to be lifted, it will be lifted by us, the light.

Have you ever considered that light, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant has the power to chase some darkness away?  No matter how dark, no matter how foreboding, the smallest light brightens and improves the situation.  The devil (have we become so sophisticated that we believe there is no devil?) has us believing that all our efforts in Kingdom building must be on the scale of Hercules and the Aegean stables.  But not so.  Little lights, maybe just one little light in every corner will do. 

Then, too, light has the amazing ability to seek its own.  The lights of the few and far between somehow seem to seek their own.  Your little light plus my little light will soon join together and be greater in the aggregate than we could have ever dreamed individually.

Jesus says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”  It all starts with little lights, all over in corners and alley ways and school corridors and office complexes and shopping malls and sidewalk sales and before you know it darkness will be a distant memory for the weak and foolish to cherish.  Not big lights, not even necessarily bright lights, but lights!  Don’t our children sing a song that says, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.  Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.”

Guest Columnist cont.

Back to work… must finish this book. Must at least finish this chapter if I’m going to have a bestseller—thinking now of revenue.

Where are my plot notes? I had the perfect scene all worked out in the shower and now it’s gone from my head.

But still she plugs on.

Coffee pot on automatic shut off is re-started with only ‘BAD COFFEE’ as a result. Another fifteen minute break now. For fresh coffee and, of course, a step outside,

‘To clear my head… so to speak.’

Where are the children?

It’s four pm now. Where did the day go?

Back to the keyboard…

More reluctantly this time.

That blank page is very discouraging. I wonder if Wanda is online? I’ll email her and see what’s cooking in D.C.

Dear Wanda,

I’ve got this great idea for a new screenplay. It will be based on my book Majestic Secret. Of course, it will be a snap to write as I already have the book written. Conversion couldn’t possibly be that hard, right? It’s just a matter of focus and discipline, right? Finding the time when I have nothing to distract me and that’s easy, for you know I’m NEVER distracted.

Chelle

SEND.

Once again she stares at the empty WORD document 4 page. She points her curser to the “Shut Down” button and drags off to bed. It’s midnight now. She’ll sleep on her story. Tomorrow is another day.

HEY! That’s a good line. I think I’ll use it.

Michelle McGriff is a native Californian. Writing since her early teens she has always had love for the written word. Through practice and persistence she continues her growth from short story writer to novelist and on to screenwriter. Sharing what she learns freely with her students she conducts classes in creating writing. With humor as her co-pilot she teaches her students to fly high above oppressive realities, showing them how to dig deep within themselves to find positive sight and confidence through their own written words.

Punctuation Points cont.

Ever wonder what those three or four dots in succession meant?  I mean those that we see like this:  (. . .) or (. . . .) or (. . . . . . . . . . . .) ?  Well, here is what I hope will be an easy to understand meaning for them. 

First of all, it’s called an “Ellipse.”   The Ellipse is used under the following conditions:

• Three seperate spaced points means the omissin of words or sentences within quoted matter

• Four spaced points means the omission of words at the end of a sentence.

• When extended the length of a line means the omission of one or more lines of poetry.

• Sometimes used as a device to catch and hold the reader's attentions.

Hope this is helpful! 

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