Know your Bible! Know your Bible choices!

Choosing a Bible was not difficult when only one or two English versions had been translated from the original Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic languages. Now, deciding which Bible you prefer can be confusing, especially since you have many choices among the word-for-word, phrase-by-phrase, and thought-by-thought translations. In addition to those options, you will also find Catholic and Protestant editions.

Specific word choices in the translations might differ, but the books in the New Testament will be the same in either Catholic or Protestant editions. However, the “Old Testament” of a Catholic Bible includes more books than you will find in the Hebrew scriptures of other Bibles, so be sure to look for an identifying phrase such as “Catholic edition” on the front cover.

Somewhere in the front pages of a Catholic study Bible, you will also find “Nihil Obstat” and “Imprimatur,” which let you know that the footnotes, study helps, and explanatory articles have been deemed free of doctrinal error by a Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church.

The English translation approved by the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and accepted by most parishes in America is the New American Bible (NAB), available in such excellent editions as The Catholic Study Bible, the Saint Joseph Edition, or The New Catholic Answer Bible.

Another favored translation is the poetically quotable classic, the Revised Standard Version. However, every copy of RSV does not include all of the Old Testament books that a Catholic Bible has, so look for The Ignatius Bible or other Catholic edition.

For a fresh, lively translation, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) brings new energy (and, sometimes, different verse numbering!) to familiar Psalms, parables, and Bible stories.

If you want an easy-to-read translation with few footnotes, the Catholic edition of the Good News Bible may make you eager to read Holy Scriptures from cover to cover as you would any book or saga and, indeed, why not!

With a reader-friendly translation and church-approved footnotes, you can read, study, and soon love the Bible, then, accurately and poetically, pass on its Good News.


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(c) 2010, Mary Harwell Sayler. You might also want to follow the Bible Reviewer blog.

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On Account Of Our Words

You’ve probably heard by now that the Library of Congress recently obtained rights to preserve all of the tweets on Twitter in their digital archives. This could be embarrassing for those who speak reactively or blurt out whatever comes to mind. Even if they later regret what they said, those impulsive tweets have become part of a permanent record.

Sadly though understandably, people often say weird or crazy things when they think no one is listening, when they think no one cares, but Christians know better. We know God cares. We know God hears. We know our words can have a permanent impact with the power to hurt or heal.

In case we forget or just don’t get it, Jesus gives weight to our words in Matthew 12:36-37 when He says, “I tell you on the day of judgment people will give an account for every careless word they utter, for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned."

Heavy!

However, as Christian poets, writers, and editors, we can respond and not just react to the news, mood, and events going on around us. In the presence of the Holy Spirit, we have the presence of mind to pray and the peace of mind to listen and really hear what God says.

Taking care to hear and speak and write correctly, we can research each fact and scriptural reference in every poem or manuscript - taking care, too, to be honest, accurate, credible, and clear.

If we can find a traditional Christian publishing house or a denominational publisher to produce our work, great! The staff will add their expertise, catching mistakes we might have missed and pointing out areas we did not realize need clarifying so others will understand. If we self-publish though, we will not have an in-house team to keep our work and words accountable, but even if we must pay for it ourselves, we can ask for input from other Christians who know Christ, the church, and also human nature.

Knowing how to look up a subject in a biblical index or encyclopedia will help too, of course. Sometimes we’re sure we know a certain verse by heart, but we can look it up anyway, preferably in a variety of reputable translations, to get a clearer, broader understanding of the context and true meaning.

The more we know the Bible, the more we retain the Word of God until our minds begin to resemble the mind of Christ. This not only brings our poems and manuscripts into a deeper, spiritual level that will surely strengthen and encourage readers, but these Christ-like thoughts help us to keep our words in line, in love, in truth. So when our writing lands in the Library Of Congress archives or anywhere else, we can rejoice!

We can be glad to have our words preserved. We can be happy that others may come to believe in God on account of what we said. We and our words can bring blessings in Jesus’ name and be blessed on account of Christ.


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(c) 2010, Mary Harwell Sayler 

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The Poetic Power of Dyslexia

Most poets and writers draw on experience, talent, skill, personality, and the power of observation to find something fresh to say in their fiction, nonfiction, and poetry writing. If you do that too, great! Keep up the good work. However, the traits you think of as a disadvantage or even a handicap might be the ones that help you to develop your own voice or distinctive style. Take, for instance, dyslexia.

Like many poets and career freelance writers, I began writing as a young child but, in my case, backwards. One way or the other did not matter to me, but this stressed out my teacher so much, she made me stay after class on my very first day of school. For years I thought Mrs. Smith called Mother to come in, too, to see how sloppily I wrote as my left hand smudged the soft pencil across the lined paper in my notebook, but no. I had perfectly copied everything the teacher wrote on the blackboard (which actually was black then), and I had formed each letter of the alphabet correctly. I had just written everything on the blackboard backwards.

For fun, I still like to spell ippississiM in my head, and I must warn you not to even try to beat me at word games like Boggle or Wheel Of Fortune unless, of course, you’re also a bit dyslexic. Most of the time, though, inverting letters and scrambling words or thoughts has gotten me into trouble, especially when I’m tired. If someone happens to spew double-negatives then, I can almost guarantee my brain will not follow.

In writing poetry and poetic manuscripts, however, dyslexia can come in handy. Word scrambles often lead to word play, and scrambled thinking can connect this to that in a previously untried but true way. Such “mistakes” might add a note of humor to fiction or nonfiction too and, in some cases, bring about a fresh idea, insight, or observation.

For example, as a Christian writer I often write nonfiction articles and devotionals. In one short article I wrote for other Christian poets and writers, I talked about the importance of double-checking facts and speaking with a loving voice whenever we write in the name of Jesus. Since Christians pray in Jesus’ name, my point was to encourage that thought also as we write. However, instead of typing “in the name of Jesus,” I wrote, “in the amen of Jesus.” Same letters, you notice, just scrambled. When I finally noticed this myself, I thought, wow! That better said what I wanted to say anyway. i.e., Anything we write (or pray) in Jesus’ name needs Jesus’ amen or affirmation.

I certainly do not pray for my dyslexia to increase or for you to catch it! But I do pray that you use your talents and “flaws” well. I pray you begin to see your “mistakes” or “handicaps” or “shortcomings” or “disadvantages” as a means of making your writing distinctive, inimitable, and one of a kind. Do I hear an name?

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(c) 2010, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.

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Bible Verses and Hebrew Poetry

Christians often refer to portions of the Holy Scriptures as “Bible verses,” suggesting poetry. That’s exactly what you’ll find throughout the creative word of God, especially in the Psalms and poetic prophets such as Isaiah.

Unlike the overly saccharine, sing-song poems often written for Christian readers today, Bible poems are honest, metaphorical, and rhythmic, but not always upbeat.

In poetic books such as Job, Lamentations, and Ecclesiastes, biblical poets wrote through their fears, doubts, worries, anger, envy, pride, and other powerful emotions. For example, Psalm 6:1 says:

O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger! Chasten me not in your wrath.

Sometime during Lent, most Christians feel the chill of Psalm 22 as the words are read from the prophetic poem Christ recited from the cross:

“My God! My God!
Why have you forsaken me?”

Keep reading, though, and you’ll see how that Psalm also provided a message of hope for those who heard those words during a terrible time.

Psalm 22 and other poems that “get real with God” provide credibility, too, as readers, then and now, discover and believe the upbeat reassurance of God’s ongoing love in the very next poem, the beloved 23rd Psalm.


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(c) 2010, Mary Harwell Sayler

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Getting Published In Your Own Sweet Time

Recently an editor returned a manuscript I’m sure needs to see print, so this did not make me happy. Since I’d already gone onto other projects, I then had to backtrack a bit to look for another potential publisher, which takes time – sometimes years! As much as I hate to admit it though, this can be for the best.

To give you an example, some children’s novels I wrote when my kids were growing up are just now getting ready for my young grandchildren. When the manuscripts didn’t place right away, I stuck them in a file cabinet and went on to write other books that were eventually accepted by traditional publishing houses. In fact, I forgot about those stories until my grade-school granddaughter asked, “Do you have any more books for me?” For her? Anything! So I got out the old file folders, and, together, we went through them.

Amazingly, she knew exactly what worked and what did not! Equally impressive, she was not afraid to tell me so. (Oh, what an ideal reader!) We agreed that one unfixable picture book text forever belongs in a file drawer, but two novels for middle-grade readers really do need to be published. Why? Young readers will welcome the stories and relate.

So, now what? My next step will be to check book titles and topics in Internet bookstores to make sure no one has already picked what I’ve chosen. I’ll look at writers’ guidelines on publishers’ websites, too, and see who’s open to this particular type of book.

If I find a book-line that’s similar to my work, that company will rank high on my list of potential publishers. If the manuscript comes back with a no, I’ll just try to keep company with the next good company on my list.

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(c) 2010, Mary Sayler, all rights reserved.

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