So I’ve been inspired by Samantha Krieger to start a blog. I can only promise to try to stay focused, but I’m easily distracted. Still, I’ll try. We can talk about books and writing and editing and anything else that feels relevant.
Thought number one: ECPA Pub U
I’ve just returned from the ECPA Publishing University in Chicago. For two days I went to editorial, marketing, and technology sessions. Listening to people share ideas about new ways to reach people–churched and beyond–is so refreshing to me. We talked about keeping language relevant, being innovative, blogging, building strong author/editor relationships–but through all of it, I still felt it came down to message. People in the publishing industry have a message to get out there (we all do, really). We look for new ways to package that message (online, print, etc.). But once people receive the message, it still matters most how it’s been said. Is it understandable? Clear? Fresh? Moving? Real? If the answers to those questions are yes, then we have a message that just might resonate with people. It just might change someone’s life, or maybe just offer encouragement for the moment. Whether the reader is inspired, entertained, comforted, or challenged, the message has reached them.
I believe in the power of words. Someone once said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Hearing those words can still move me, inspire me, and challenge me. And I’ve heard (and read) them over and over again. But it’s a message with real meaning, and it’s worth sharing.
Mt.5:7
Very nice Brand.
The power of words made me think of the power of music. Music in its simplest but most potent, heart wrenching form…
Sincere laughter that bubbles forth from some unseen brook within one’s heart. Horse’s hooves on cobblestones. Tires crunching rocks. Boots stomping through fallen leaves. Eating a fresh apple. A coffeemaker pouring its magic. Mozart in the morning. Rain making its crescendo to a standing ovation. Piano and violin as partners.
The sound of music echoes deep within our hearts, transforming us to another time and place in our past or future. The past is precious, taking me back to a scene of children wrapped in colorful sweaters sitting huddled together on a deck eating apple slices while mugs of hot chocolate letting off copious amounts of steam lay just within reach. The future is priceless, reminding me of a promise made by a Father to his children, that he will return and take us to live with him where there will be singing and dancing for the one who is “Holy, Holy, Holy” all the live long day. I have to wonder, have we listened to the power of music all around us? The sound of our Father’s voice when he calls to us in the form of a whisper? For a time will come, when we will be the symphony.
Glad you are joining the Bloggosphere!!