I cannot remember a time when I didn’t love words.
Every memory I have is heavily informed by words, and as someone deeply invested in them, it’s no surprise that I’m heavily biased about them.
There was a phase when I was into using the words to make notes of ideas for films and television series. I was full of ideas on basic outlines for them and would love to get them down and feature a list of credits, most of which I filled. I’d be the director, writer, editor, producer, and executive producer, featuring as one of the main characters. I was really busy in my head creating worlds in which I played a key part.
That phase came to an end because of two key developments. The first was developing a love for what words could do in radio during my university years. I loved the opportunities radio presented for entertaining, persuading, informing and being a friend. I loved that and poured the majority of my time at university into that. The second event was a lot more crushing, though, and that involved an incident that saw all the notes that I’d painstakingly written be destroyed. That was not a pleasant episode made all the worse because I was nowhere near it when it happened and had to live with the news being told by my Mum, who was as upset as I was, knowing how much time I’d poured into that enterprise.
The love for words did not die when that incident occurred, as you might have gathered from this here blog. That love has been channelled more into producing material intentionally for Kingdom purposes. Not to say that my ideas weren’t all Kingdom-directed, but I can tell you that they might not have been the foremost thought in my head when they were being put on paper.
One of the exciting things about following Jesus and being aware of the Kingdom of God is knowing that God delights in using people for His glory in all kinds of occupations. So, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility for me to believe God uses people in filmmaking and television show production for His glory. I can well believe that there are comic book artists and novelists who do what they do for His honour. I’m excited about that because it gives the leeway and opportunity for people who are so gifted to know that their talent can be used to draw people’s attention to God through the commitment to excellence and diligence as well as integrity and righteousness in using that gift.
One of the beautiful things about the reality of the Kingdom is that He is looking for each part of the Body to play its part, and as it does so, He is glorified, and the Body is edified as each part does its work and recognise that it’s connected to other Body parts which are built on what they do even as they can be built by what others are doing likewise. That happens, however, as we’re not so much focused on claiming all the credit for ourselves but acknowledging that the major credit goes to God for the production, direction, scripting, editing, lighting, costume design and whether we like it or not, being the key actor in the proceedings.
For His Name's Sake
C. L. J. Dryden
Shalom
