In My Own Words

come in . . .

vabq — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:47:14 +0000

Welcome to my online writing collection. Though you can’t see the details, this is a cozy nook with a steaming cup of coffee on a tray, and a big stuffed leather chair just begging you to stay awhile and read. Maybe you’ll find something in my files that you can identify with or will encourage you or maybe you just need to enjoy a light-hearted short story. Whatever the case, I’m glad you stopped by. Browse all you want.

freedom of words

vabq — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 02:22:18 +0000

Every blogger tapping out an update, every journalist following a story, every author putting her soul on paper is a debtor. A debtor to a dream — the vision of great minds who saw the need for freedom of speech and its cousin, freedom of the press. Without freedom of expression, words are condemned to the maze of grey matter, scooting along the brain’s channels seeking an outlet and sometimes disappearing as new thoughts take over.

The source of writing is a combination of restless energy to understand life and the incessant bubbling up of words with which to do so. Many writers have flourished in an oppressive atmosphere — Anne Frank, Elie Wiesel, Corrie ten Boom. Others have found their voice in trumpeting the call to liberty — Thomas Paine, Dietrich Bonhoffer. These men and women found the strength to pen their philosophy, experiences, and deep emotion in such indelible ways that the world cannot forget them were their books to vanish from the public presence. The searing words they left refused to be blotted out. Time has no eraser for truth.

Yet, the best display for our creative words is the scroll of freedom. While our pens are free, our minds can whirl to new thoughts and our fingers can dance on the keyboard. It is a cadence beloved by the free and the brave.

of words

vabq — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:39:58 +0000

Run your hand over the spine of a new book, smell the ink on a newpaper page, or find yourself laughing at someone’s humorous description of an event, and you know the magic of words. I’ve been in love with them since my high school English teacher encouraged me to enter an essay contest. Nothing matches the thrill of discovering a new phrase or finding the exact adjective for a thought. Somewhere I heard it said that Abraham Lincoln would wrestle as he wrote to “find the best word of three.” Many great writers have flung their souls on the path of history. Who has not found himself amazed at the haunting themes of Jack London or the delightful characters of Charles Dickens? Who has not sung to the woods with Robert Frost or lazed down the Mississippi with Mark Twain? No better endorsement of writing is needed than the very Christ Who is called the Word. He is the deepest communication; His style is quick and powerful and sharper than a twin-bladed sword. Words — tumbling, sliding, slicing, illuminating, healing, empowering — the alphabet in song.