Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Humbled by Beginning Writers

Humbled by Beginning Writers

Last updated on: September 28, 2008 at 8:23 pm by John Shore

Humbled by Beginning Writers 2008-09-28T20:23:44-08:00 John Shore

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This morning I am feeling humble. Outside of a religious context this is a rare emotion for me, insofar as I generally enjoy feeling arrogant and egocentric.

I am also right now feeling like a meth-munching meerkat, since I just downed two cups of coffee from a mug so large you could use it to drown a regular cat.

Not that I would ever drown a cat. I love cats. And, weirdly, cats love me. They follow me around. It’s bizarre. I think they sense I’m anti-drowning them.

What was I talking about?

Right. Coffee. No wait: Humility. I’m experiencing it!

The reason I’m feeling humble today is because yesterday I spent all day at the San Diego Christian Writers Guild’s annual conference, where my “Faculty Member: Author” badge officially sanctioned me to go around dispensing advice like Solomon the Wiseacre.

Dispensing advice is by far my favorite pastime. I often do it when no one’s listening at all. I’m also not above chasing people down and eventually tackling them, if that what it takes to get them to grasp the depth of my sagacity.

But yesterday, people were actually seeking my advice. It’s like I was the Oracle of Delphi, and they were truth-seeking Delphinians. Delphidites. Delphineos. Whatever. The point is, I had what they wanted.

But instead of that making me feel even more superior and awe-inspiring than I usually feel, it ended up humbling me.

All day long I sat at a table, and in 15-minute intervals talked to people who had signed up to talk to me about how they could move their writing career or project from wherever it was to wherever they wanted it to be. I also spent an hour or so in a classroom addressing the 40 or so people who, of the various talks then available to them, had chosen to hear me be Maximally Intense about “Overcoming The Harsh Realities of Publishing.”

I just can’t believe what an Actual Honor it is to have in any way helped so many new writers acheive their dream. I don’t know what I thought I was going to be doing yesterday—but in the main I think I was unprepared for how serious the attendees at the conference would be about becoming published authors. But doi. They each paid $150 to be there. Of course they were serious about what they were doing.

I’ll talk a little bit more tomorrow about some of the people I met and the projects they felt moved by God to write. For now, I just wanted to share how deeply uplifting I found meeting and interacting with so many good, earnest people who are taking so seriously the idea that they should heed God’s call to them to create.

Uncategorized

Writing

Previous Post

September 26, 2008

Anyone But Me Getting Nervous?

Next Post

October 1, 2008 Evangelist or Ego-Driven Meddler?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Christian Issues Christian Spirituality Dear John En Espanol Everywhere She's Not Humor Look See Pastor Bob's Corner Personal Portuguese Relationships Russian Short-short story Smith Family Chronicles Uncategorized

Select a Month March 2024 August 2022 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 February 2020 December 2019 June 2019 December 2018 May 2018 May 2017 January 2017 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In Revelation, how long does Satan remain bound in the Abyss?

Select your answer to see how you score.

1,000 years 666 years 144,000 days 7 years

Books by This Author Books by John Shore

See All Titles »