April 16, 2012 Leave a Comment

Having A Hard Time Getting Started?

Strength for the Quest

You’ve had those mornings, haven’t you? When the engine doesn’t rev. The coffee doesn’t perk. The brain cells don’t spark. And the hamster refuses to climb onto the wheel. Why are so many of those days Monday?

I keep signs and quotes around me to remind me of things I tend to forget in the crush of deadlines and the urgency of the immediate. One of my favorite fiction writing quotes is from bestselling author Dean Koontz — 

TORTURE THE READER TO THE END

A favorite quote from J. Wolfgang von Goethe reminds me to press forward toward my life goal of telling inspirational stories — 

Lose this day loitering, ‘twill be the same story
Tomorrow, and the rest more dilatory. 
Thus indecision brings its own delays,
And days are lost tormenting over days.
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute;
What you can do, or dream you can, begin it;
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it;
Only engage, and then the mind grows heated;
Begin, and then the work will be completed. 

Time to get to work. 

STRENGTH FOR THE QUEST
Because Life Is More Than A Journey

 

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April 9, 2012 Leave a Comment

Novels Spark Revival In USSR

Strength for the Quest
I’m sure the author wouldn’t want to hear this, but for me the most memorable part of his book was a footnote— 

The footnote told how, in the 1970s, journalist Malcolm Muggeridge was interviewing Anatoly Kuznetsov, a Russian writer who had defected to England from the USSR. Muggeridge surprised to hear that a spiritual revival was taking place in the Soviet Union. This was at a time when virtually all Christian books, including the Bible, were banned by the Communist government. But according to Kuznetsov, there was hardly a writer or artist or musician who was not exploring spiritual faith. 

What was sparking the revival? 

Kuznetsov explained that while the Russian authorities suppressed all Christian writings, they dare not suppress the works of the great Russian novelists, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, and that through their novels people were reading perfect expositions of the Christian faith, resulting in widespread spiritual revival. 

On a personal note, early in my professional career I observed how story was able to portray spiritual truth in a powerful, memorable way. People remembered the stories I told long after they forgot the lesson. It was this observation that lead me to begin writing fiction. 

I’ve staked my professional career on the fact that good fiction is life-changing fiction. 

STRENGTH FOR THE QUEST
Because Life Is More Than A Journey

_________________________

INTERESTED IN REVIVAL? For revivals in America, see my Great Awakenings novels

Click here: Great Awakenings

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April 4, 2012 Leave a Comment

Stories Are Sacred

Strength for the Quest
“STORIES ARE SACRED,” according to Leonard Sweet in his book, Soul Salsa.

“Storytelling is the most sacred of professions. Stories are what makes the soul healthy or ill, saved or damned. Prozac is really nothing more than a story drug that empties your mind of bad memories and allows the good life stories to take supremacy. . . . Stories are our lives’ greatest asset.” 

Sweet goes on to describe how we can choose items from our homes and ceremonies in our lives that are rooted in personal stories to strengthen our spiritual lives, not unlike the Jewish mezuzah on doorposts. He suggests you choose items to sanctify your living space with meaningful stories. 

[Read more…]

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April 2, 2012 Leave a Comment

How Much Do You Pay For Friends?

Strength for the Quest

Some years ago an ad appeared in the San Francisco Guardian. It read: 

Our lives are filled with emptiness,
desperation, and misery. We want
friends. We pay $9.99 an hour for
friendship. Please tell us how pretty
we look.

Intrigued, a journalist responded to the ad. He called the number listed and made an appointment. Arriving ten minutes late, Dave and Terri met him at the door. 

Terri greeted him with, “Good friends should be prompt.”

Once inside, she explained the ad. “We’re deadly serious about this We don’t want to be your friend. We want you to be our friend. We’re not interested in your problems. This is not a give and take relationship. It’s strictly a take relationship. We want the benefits of friendship but none of its burdens. That’s why we’re willing to pay.” 

After the allotted time passed, the journalist prepared to leave. He was handed a check for $9.99. On the memo line, Terri had written, “For friendship.” 

Now before you dismiss Dave and Terri as a couple of kooks, answer me this: How much are you willing pay for friendship? It isn’t free. For any relationship to succeed – real life and Internet friends – you have to be willing to make an investment. 

Instead of cash, pay a friend a compliment.

You could give them a gift of time. Don’t talk, just listen. Be there for them. 

Investments in friendship pay a lifetime of benefits. Generosity is gold. 

STRENGTH FOR THE QUEST
Because Life Is More Than A Journey

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