How to have Bible values in what we write

A couple of weeks ago, I started a Discussion in the Christian Poets and Writers group on LinkedIn with the question, “Is the Bible an essential part of your work as a Christian poet, writer, editor, or publisher?”

One of our CP&W members responded with another important question, “How do we keep biblical values in our writing?”

I replied by saying something about how poems and writings in almost any genre reflect our Bible values then gave an example of “Blue Bloods,” one of my favorite TV shows that is "secular" but often ends by showing the biblical value of a family sharing a meal. People used to sit down and “break bread” together regularly but seldom now. What made the scene even better, though, was a televised demonstration of faith as the family prays before the meal – not with heads bowed symbolically but with full audio given to the prayer.

With that in mind and spirit, I went on to say in the CP&W Discussion that I’m not worried about Christian poets and writers omitting biblical value. Presenting godly values will just happen – naturally and supernaturally too, but what I failed to add is that this hinges on how well we know the Bible ourselves.

That thought has been on my mind even more since the CP&W conversation put it there because I then started to notice clever or catchy sayings that sound wise being posted by talented Christians, who might not know the difference between biblical values and what just sounds good. These poetic but pithy words seem sagacious yet have no nutritional value for spiritual growth because they just aren't true!

So how do we know if our writings have Bible value and not worldly ones that sound biblical but may merely be half-truths?

The best way, of course, is to know the Bible well, then keep on reading.

We can also research whatever does not sound right. The Biblegateway.com website eases such searches for words or phrases, but if that doesn’t reveal the real word on a hard-to-pinpoint topic, ask your pastor, preacher, or priest.

Look for clues, too, as you discern the difference between biblical values, popular expressions, or wise-sounding-sayings. Such words as “always,” “never,” “every,” or other absolutes may sound nice and pretty yet seldom be true.

This last word is, therefore, first and foremost: Pray!

Whether we write novels, poems, devotionals, children’s stories, nonfiction articles, or television scripts, our God-given values provide a strong spiritual antidote for remedying the contagious, ungodly values currently making the rounds!

If we ask God to help us speak clearly, ring truly, and be biblically accurate, we will communicate no ungodly dis-ease, but, in word and spirit, ease our readers into the true and healing word of God in Christ.

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© 2012, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved, but pass it on!

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Does one Bible fit all Christian readers and denominations?

When translating from ancient Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic languages into contemporary English, variations occur because of the synonyms translators choose from and also because of archaic phrases that would puzzle readers today. Some translators convert each word into English, but most choose to render old idioms or colloquial expressions into current thoughts or contemporary phrases, rather than translating word for word.

If you plan to write Bible stories, Bible studies, church curriculum, or other Bible-based poems and manuscripts for Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox readers, you’ll do well to compare the many fine translations on the Internet, or, better yet, get a copy of every English version of the Bible you can find.

As you see how biblical scholars translate a familiar verse or story in a truthful but fresh or unfamiliar way, you’ll broaden your view of God’s word and better understand where your readers are coming from, regardless of their denominational beliefs.

Whether you use Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox editions of the Bible, all of the books of the New Testament will be the same and in the same order. In the Hebrew Bible or “Old Testament,” however, the number and placement of the books may vary, depending on whether the translators accepted the Septuagint – the Greek Bible that most Jews and Christians read up until the first century or so.

After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the Jewish leaders agreed to accept only the books written in Hebrew as they canonized the Bible, but the early church continued to use the books in the Greek Bible too, referring to them as deuterocanonical.

Then, after the Reformation, the deuterocanonical books were removed from English versions, including the King James Version, which originally included them all. After this, the “extra” canonical books were generally referred to as apocryphal, which means hidden.

Those books remained hidden from many of us until recently. But then, just this week as I researched information for the new posting “Which Bible would Jesus choose?” for the Bible Reviewer blog, I discovered that almost every translation of the Christian Bible now offers all of the books!

Bible book publishers may still refer to the “extra” books as the Apocrypha, but who cares as long as you know what to look for in the bookstore. You also might enjoy, as I did, the joy of discovering those “hidden” books for your personal reading. More importantly, perhaps, Christians who once again have all of the books in common might be less apt to think of ourselves according to denominations but according to our solid word-for-word translation into the Kingdom of God through our one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

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© 2012, Mary Sayler, all rights reserved. If you want to share the information in this article, be sure to acknowledge the source and website. For more information on the many wonderful translations of the Bible, visit Bible Reviewer. May God bless your Bible reading and your Christian writing life.

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Writing in Bible love

As Valentine’s Day approaches, Christian poets and writers have a blessed opportunity to write about love from God’s perspective, which has far greater substance than romantic notions and fuzzy feelings. This biblical view of love remains constant, year-round, so, Lord willing, I’ll be addressing What the Bible Says about Love with appropriate scriptures, prayers, and short devotionals for private use or discussions in your Bible study group.

For example, the posting “The Bible Defines Love” discussed “the love chapter,” I Corinthians 13, reminding me of a poem Sandy Brooks accepted several years ago for Cross & Quill, the newsletter of the former Christian Writers Fellowship International (CWFI) for which she and I both served as directors.


Taking A Bible Stanza
(from I Corinthians 13)

Though I speak with the most angelic voice
heard in human hearts….

Though I resound as a clear bell calling
all readers to ring with praise….

Though I prophesy with power,
decipher mysteries, acquire
insight, and utter wisdom well….

Though I have faith to move
mountains of people with perceptive words
and cast rejection into deep depths of the sea….

Though I write all I have been given
and hand over my body of work
without reimbursement or acknowledgment….

Though I may boast of publication and best-sells….

Without love for God and readers, my work is nothing.

The loving writer-poet must be patient,
kind – not proud.

The loving writer-poet must not insist
“My work, my way!” nor be
manuscripted with resentment,
but rejoice, rejoice in giving voice to truth.

The loving writer-poet bears all
disappointments, believes all
timing comes from God, and has all
hope to end: endure.

The loving writer-poet knows
we know in part, but every part
of every reader needs
The Loving Word of God.

This love story, theme, or purpose
never ends.

poem by Mary Harwell Sayler originally published in Cross & Quill. Used by permission of the author.


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© 2012, Mary Sayler, all rights reserved.

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Reflecting God’s Light in what we write

Christmas and Hanukah bring Holy Days of Light to Christians and Jews, but depression and desperation often come this time of year to lonely people who do not know God. As poets and writers who do know God and the Word of God given to us through the Holy Scriptures and Holy Spirit, God gives us light to bear and light to share.

As Isaiah 49:6 promises: “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to Me. I (God) will make you a Light to the nations to bring My salvation to all the peoples of the earth.”

Sometimes the word “salvation” is used so often it seems dull, but in God’s Light we see light. To re-view what the Bible shows:

Salvation offers a way of escape from bad habits and attitudes that seize and entrap.

Salvation rescues people from mistakes hanging over their heads like dead mistletoe.

Salvation delivers people from the presence of evil, bad will, and unforgiveness.

Salvation recovers who and what was lost.

Salvation brings salve and healing, wrapping us in love and offering our writing as a gift in the present as a present from God.

Only God can save. Only God is Light and gives Light to all who want to step away from dark corners or dark thoughts lurking around, threatening to overshadow. But, as poets and writers and people of God, we have brightness!

We are Christmas lights and Hanukah candles.

Our poems and manuscripts can bring all that God gives us to give to others – giving and giving yet having more and more to hold onto and keep.

Let's pray to remember, though, that reflecting the Light requires reflection.

Let's pray to remember that part of the Light is being light, and our part may be to have and to hold a light touch, levity, and humor.

Only God can put ho-ho into Holy Days – not with zaniness or phony attempts to be jolly but with the true, pure light of joy. So let's pray for joy. Pray for light. Pray for daily reflection on the Light of Christ and the Joy of Salvation as we reflect our loving Heavenly Father -- the Almighty LORD God to the world.

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© 2011, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.

http://www.marysayler.com

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Did Jesus read poems, quote poetry, and pray printed prayers?

Jesus prayed spontaneously as shown in the Lord’s Prayer or Our Father and in the High Priestly Prayer in Chapter 17 of the Gospel of John. However, as a regular worshipper in the synagogue and one who often stood up to read aloud “as was His custom” (Luke 4:16), Jesus undoubtedly read the printed prayers and poems scrolled into the book of Psalms.

Then and now, Jesus and other Jewish people drew from Psalms for many reasons. Then and now, Christians rely on Psalms, too, as shown in Acts 1:20, Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16 and many other Bible verses. Why? Christians and Jews love the book of Psalms as:

Written prayers

Songbook

Anthology of poetry

Source of godly wisdom

Examples of heartfelt prayer

Outlet for genuine emotion

Devotion and meditation

Inspired writings

Prophetic word

Apparently Jesus also memorized at least some of the psalms because, from the cross, He quoted Psalm 22 not only to express the agony He felt but to encourage His followers who knew, as Jesus did, how the psalm ends. In addition, this fulfilled the word of prophecy recorded in that poem and printed prayer.

What does this have to do with us today as Christian writers, editors, and poets? Hopefully, a lot! For example:

Written prayers are preserved prayers, private prayers, public prayers, proven prayers, and prayers that immediately connect us with one another and with God. Whenever and wherever you pray a psalm or other Bible prayer, countless prayer partners stand with you in all times and places.

Psalms provide long-loved examples of beautifully written songs, poems, instructional teachings, and wisdom writings. Studying and reading aloud each psalm can help us to attune our ear and improve the poetic quality of our writing in all genres.

Psalms give us insight into the spiritual life and also the life of faith realistically lived and written in all genres.

Psalms draw us closer to God, not only with praise and thanksgiving but, more often, with laments! Thankfully, those laments typically end on an encouraging word of faith, helping us to cry out with true feelings and draw on faith that has been tested as we, too, write prayers, poems, and writings in all genres.

Psalms remind us of the ongoing timeliness of the Bible and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of God’s Word, written into our lives as Christian poets, editors, and writers in all genres, all places, and all times.

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If you would like to discover prayers in the Bible that enliven your faith and guide your prayers and writings today, follow the Bible Prayers blog. May blessings abound on all who enter that space.

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© 2011, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.
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Blogs need focus, focus

With new blogs appearing daily on the Internet, your blog can stand out and draw readers if you focus on a specific topic and a specific readership.

For instance, you probably noticed that this blog addresses steps traditionally involved in researching, writing, revising, and marketing manuscripts primarily written for a Christian audience and/ or from a Christian perspective. Therefore, the specific readers to whom I speak are Christian writers, Christian poets, and Christian editors.

For Christian readers in general, the Bible Prayers blog focuses on almost all of the prayers in Holy Scripture, while The Poetry Editor blog hopefully speaks to poets, poetry editors, poetry students, and poetry lovers who want to discuss the poetic techniques, forms, and characteristics of well-written free verse and traditional poetry too.

Before deciding on those particular topics, however, I asked myself some questions that might also help you to fine-tune your focus:

What topics have interested me most of my life and continue to interest me enough to want to keep spending time with them and investigating them, perhaps for a long time?

Which topics have I studied or researched reasonably well?

Which of these topics might readers also want to think about, learn about, or discuss?

Do I have relevant experiences that could benefit potential readers?

Am I willing to double-check the facts and information I relay, even though I think I know?

Realistically, how often can I research, write, and post new articles? Once a day? Once a week? Twice a week? Twice a month?

Do I treat blog readers the way I want to be treated?

Am I willing to focus on their needs even when I promote my blog(s) through the major social networks, so the very people I hope to draw will not feel spammed, disrespected, or overwhelmed?

Will my readers be so glad they discovered my blog that they will just naturally pass on the good news?

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© 2011, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.

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Christian writers write in all genres - just like in the Bible

Some people think that Christian writing has to be nonfiction to be true, but that’s not true! In any genre, our writings cannot make a decision to follow Christ. Therefore, “Christian writing” is a misnomer, but, as Christian writers, we can make that choice and do. Then we have as many styles, literary genres, and ways of writing as anyone else.

So the big difference in our work in particular and in the Christian writing life in general comes as we gain and give a godly perspective. How?

Start with the Bible. To get a sweeping view of how God interacts with all peoples and creation, read the Bible cover to cover.

Pray for God to guide your reading. Consider what other students of the Bible say and what you think, too, but stay open to a fresh view as the Holy Spirit aids comprehension and deepens your insight into spiritual matters.

Compare translations. Many old and new versions of the Bible can be found in full on the Internet, but you might not find them all in one location. For instance, a translation approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops can be found in full (with excellent footnotes) on the USCCB website, while most Protestant versions are posted on Bible Gateway and other sites. Also, a commercial website (the ChristianBooksBibles online store) with which I have no tie, offers a comprehensive list of translations available for Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish readers.

Look up place names. Use a Bible dictionary and Bible atlas, and compare maps showing ancient and contemporary geographical boundaries.

Research your main topic with the key word and also peripheral wording. After using a concordance or searching various translations on the Internet to see what the Bible says about your subject, look up related words or topics in church documents and statements of faith, which can be found on most denominational websites.

Read footnotes and fine print. Allegedly, study Bible were once used to promote a particular perspective or denominational interpretation, whereas new study editions are more likely to bring together information and insights from diverse scholars who have devoted their whole lives to Bible study. In general, newer study editions clarify information, define unusual words or colloquial phrases, and put factual data into cultural context. Some editions include numbers in a tiny font to show cross-referencing as a topic threads through one book of the Bible to another.

Study the Bible as literature. This excerpt from a new study edition discusses literary aspects of the Bible that can broaden our understanding of genres and also increase our awareness of our unique work and individual calling as a Christian poet, editor, or writer.

Practice each genre. Experiment! Find out which type of writing comes to you most readily. Remove preconceived thoughts of “Christian writing,” too, and begin to see yourself as a Christian who writes in all genres, knowing the biblical writers did too.

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(c) 2011, Mary Harwell Sayler

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You are what you read: reading to write well, think well, and have something to say

The old adage, “You are what you eat,” contains many grams of truth for weighing physical health, but when it comes to healthy thinking and the development of writing skill, you are what you read or don’t read.

Think, for example, of the books that have influenced you in some way. Chances are, you would not be a writer if you had never read a book, but writer or not, the books you loved during childhood, teen years, and last week have shaped your mental outlook and, very probably, your character. That’s power!

So let’s think about books that made us think and make us thinkers.

If you’re a guy, some of your choices most likely differ from mine, but as a young reader, The Secret Garden showed me the healing power of honesty and persistent love, while Anne of Green Gables encouraged belief in a creative voice and spirit. Almost before memory, though, The Little Engine That Could laid the tracks for those later books to carry strong beliefs in caring, persistence, and faith. Later still, such inspirational novels as The Robe and Christy put similar values into the forefront of my forehead.

Before we even begin to read by ourselves, book choices shape our thoughts.

Books continue to shape the well-read life.

Books also help us to develop as writers.

From childhood on, the King James Version of the Bible shaped my thinking, first for the content, which I better understood in the many newer translations that followed, but also for the poetry and musicality that still make me want to go for a poetic flow even in writing nonfiction.

To develop my writing skill on purpose, however, my initial choices came from books published by Writers Digest. Their magazine and also Poets & Writers continued to supply useful information and ideas as has my long-time membership in Writers-Editors.com. 

Hopefully, you will gain some useful information about writing on this blog and about poetry on the Poetry Editor & Poetry blog. Such resources help writers in general, but our book choices show our individuality as we become what we read. So, let's:

Read ourselves well before choosing books to read.

My writings, for example, went from inspirational romances and devotionals to a picture book for preschoolers and life-health encyclopedias for college students. Sounds nice, but the fun of writing about all sorts of topics in all sorts of genres did not win a consistent readership nor help me to develop a voice that can be heard above the crowd.

Our books influence readers who stop to listen.

Our books help readers become what they read.

Our books also give us what we most want to read.

For years, I devoured novels, but I rarely read them now, so, for now anyway, I no longer write them. Thanks to my grands, I still read children’s books, especially well-written picture books, and I still like to write them. Most often though, I read stacks of poetry and every reputable translation of the Bible, which I also review on the Bible Reviewer blog.

As I put together my love of the Bible and of poetry, I asked myself this question, which may help you to read yourself well too:

What book(s) will be most likely to help me at this particular time in my writing life?

For example, my response led me into studying a classic that combines my particular interests: The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. I read it years ago but did not get the literary references, spiritual themes, or political purpose of that book, which is primarily a treatise on the separation of church and state – a division that had not been fully realized in the early 1300's.

When Dante wrote his book, the current title had not been accepted. He did not call his manuscript “divine” since that might have been presumptuous enough to land him in a low level of Purgatory! Within a couple of centuries, however, readers added the word, but the original title was simply The Comedy, which has nothing to do with the comedic laughter of today but, rather, means the opposite of a tragic tale. To define quickly:

A tragedy is a story that starts well but ends badly.

A comedy is a story that starts badly but has a happy ending.

To keep my reading of this classical work from being tragic, I needed help! When I previously read the slender volume, I had somehow missed the heft of its meaning. So to help me “get it” this time, I ordered all three volumes with contemporary free verse translations by Robert M. Durling and heavy-duty footnotes and articles by him and Ronald L. Martinez. Yes, it's a little intimidating – okay, a lot. But reaching the half-way mark has gave me a larger view than I would have noticed on my own, helping me to reassess my biblical values, poetry, and life.

Undoubtedly, my choice of reading material will help to shape my thinking and my approach to future writing projects. And, isn’t it best to think about and assess our dearest beliefs before we sit down to write? It’s not that we want to tell people how to think or what to feel, but our clarified thoughts and beliefs help readers better clarify their own priorities as they continue to become what they read.

(c) 2011 and 2019 revision by Mary Harwell Sayler, poet-writer


The Divine Comedy of Dante, Vol. 1, paperback



Purgatorio, Dante, Vol. 2, paperback



Paradiso, Dante, Vol. 3, paperback



Dante, three-volume set, hardback

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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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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