Testing, testing, 1…2…3… June 30, 2006
Posted by awilhite in Editorial, Rock Guild Posts.2 comments
I would like to state for the record that I am being forced into the 21st century kicking and screaming. Only my love of writing would be powerful enough motivation to try and figure this stupid thing out! I am posting this as a testing “strand” for those of us who maxed out our technical education with a pen and spiral notebook to practice on! I will probably put it in the wrong place. I am going to try and put it into a category, if I can figure out what a category is and how to use it. Hey, P. Abbey- I have a subject for your next guild meeting! How about a training class on how to use a blog? Why does it do crazy things every time I hit “enter”? How are you supposed to start a new paragraph on this miserable thing? Do you know what “blog” reminds me of? A bog of jello. Blogging would be like slogging through blotted logs bobbing along in the jello. Green jello. Looks like slime. So far I am developing very few positive associations with this particular piece of technology. Now I must go and learn to comment!
The Lord’s Funny Bone – Joyce Sykes June 29, 2006
Posted by Abs in Fictional Bio - July.7 comments
The Lord revealed His unique sense of humor by placing me in the craziest family on the face of the earth. Being the fourth of ten children exposed only part of God’s wit; He revealed the remaining factors through His call on my parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents on my father’s side. You see, I belong to Ernie and Genell Swanson, of the ‘Swanson Clown Family’.
I arrived on a warm spring day in May. Mom was driving the clown car in the middle of a show when her water broke. Dad insisted there was time to finish the routine before heading to the hospital twenty miles away.
With the elevator trapped between two floors, the delivery nurse was forced into action as a mechanic hurriedly struggled to repair the system. Mom laughingly shared for years, it was a miracle I didn’t try to swim back upstream, particularly since the first thing I saw was my father; Hobo Ernie was in full costume including his huge red nose. Dad insisted on naming me Daisy May Swanson in his traditional a,b,c order. My older siblings were Andy, Barney and Clyde. Later Ethel, Fairy, Georgia, Harvey, Isabel and Jocko joined our loco but loving troop. The small travel camper was almost as crowded as the sardine clown cars used in our act.
In one of my earliest memories, Dad shared our call to be clowns for Jesus. There were numerous chances to impart the Gospel with circus workers and townspeople as we traveled from place to place. At each new stop, several of the children would walk with Dad in full costumes laughing and joking with everyone we met.
I watched my father repeatedly turn a casual conversation to the love of Jesus. My father’s clownish ways often embarrassed me until I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior; I too joined heart with my folks to be a ‘fool for Jesus’.
Our performance consisted of several short skits, with all the members of our family playing various characters. One was Romera saving Judy, his love from a burning building. My favorite was Daisy the Hillbilly as a wild and dangerous man-hunter on the prowl for a mate. We also played cops and robbers, and other typical clown routines. The crowd’s laughter was music to our ears.
At times, my concern grew of ever finding a husband with our constant travel. Then one day, my father hired Cecil, a new clown, since two brothers and one sister had left for SeymourClownCollege. As soon as I saw the new clown with his red hair and countless freckles, I knew the Lord had once more had the last laugh on me. My spirit echoed with His chuckle “Daughter, behold your future husband.”
Within months, ‘Freckles’ proposed. Dad laughing rejoiced with the thought of a new son. The great Swanson Clown tradition would carry on. Two years later, in true family fashion, Kitty decided to make her presence know in the middle of an act and insisted on arriving even as we made our way to the local hospital. Her Aunt Fairy, in full clown costume, of course, proudly clutched her as this little one made her grand entrance into this world in the backseat of the family van. Within a few years, Leo, Markie, Nick, and Opal joined our loving and crazy family in our crowded clown camper.
Yes, I can say I have a wonderful but crazy life. I know the loving antics of the ‘Swanson Clown Family’ bring laughter to my Father God.
By Joyce Sykes
New Writers’ Guild Blog! June 28, 2006
Posted by cmejia in Announcements.2 comments
Yeah! We finally got the new Writers’ Guild Blog up and running. If you are a member of The ROCK Writers’ Guild you should have received an email from me with instructions and login information. If you did not receive and email, please email me so that we can get you set up.
We hope you will take full advantage of this blog. Write, write, write – and let us see! The site will be a work in progress for some time to come. We will be adding opportunities and resources for you to use to help you hone your skills. We will also be posting guild assignments, and special announcements.
I’m so excited!!! So, who’s going to be the first to kick us off?
Fictional Bio Assignment June 28, 2006
Posted by Abs in Assignments.add a comment
Good morning, all! What a wonderful time we had together yesterday, it had been way too long and I had been missing you! I really appreciated the candor in your essays as well as in your free writes. Thank you for sharing.
Our next meeting will be Sunday, July 23rd at 4:30. Mark your calendars!
I was reading this morning out of “The Creative Life: A Workbook for Unearthing the Christian Imagination” by Alice Bass and I wanted to share this passage with you.
“God is expansive, but he’s made us limited creatures. We are limited by geography, age, generation, gender, abilities, experiences and the list goes on. Some people would say, “No, no, you’re not limited.” But really we are. Most of us consider limits something to rebel against, something to be exceeded or stretched. But God is stretching us. Within the boundaries of our lives we can experience God’s abundance. He is always going beyond our limitations to achieve eternal purposes. This is what God does in you: he tells you who you are, and then he pours out his grace and makes you more than you are, more than you could ever be. He makes you like Jesus.”
Psalm 16.5-6 says, “Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”
I want you to try an experiment. This week, I want you to make a place for creativity – a quiet and safe place – away from the kids and the dishwasher that needs to be unloaded – again – and away from the television. Make a safe haven for creative thought. Use a chair, room, porch, corner – get a big colorful coffee mug or a picture that inspires you – whatever will help you to relax and remember that you are safe to explore your imagination. Let your safe haven remind you that you need to spend time connecting with God in order to experience your creative life. Let’s remember how to see angels and draw anatomically incorrect people with crayons and construction paper. (if you missed guild yesterday, this may seem like a strange analogy…) Now…. Write – don’t edit yourself as you write – save that for a later date. Just write and let the Lord speak through your pen, pencil, marker, crayon, chalk… whatever you are using. I know that each of you suffer from being human, it’s a condition that is impossible to change – but your creativity is supernatural and goes beyond what our limited human minds can comprehend. Allow that part of you to write. You will not be sharing this assignment with the group unless you so choose.
Now – the assignment that you WILL be sharing with us is this….
Write a fictional bio, in first person, of up to 500-600 words. Whether you opt for the outrageous or the conservative in creating the fraudulent you, notice where you are tending to draw your ideas from. Aspirations? The lives of others? The person sitting across from you? Are you inventing quite arbitrarily, sculpting, stealing, corrupting? (these are questions to answer internally – written answers aren’t required for this assignment, just the fictional bio! But reflect on these questions and stay in touch with the process and how your imagination is working).
You have a few weeks to work on this – please email it to me by Sunday, July 16th so I can get it to the group in time for you to read them and comment. I look forward to reading them!
See you all soon –
Pastor Abbye
