I write for a living, in more ways than one. I earn money by writing. I also write lengthy communications for everything from saving the planet to family health updates. And of course, there are my journals.
Writing as a medium is, no doubt, intricately influenced by era, culture, and mediums. Which is why Swedenborg’s sheer verbosity astounds me—it would be amazing enough if the Writings, all 7000 pages of them, were typed! My dad believes that the brain works differently when typing vs. writing by hand, and I suspect he’s right.
But one thing hasn’t changed, and that is that we still are responsible for our own writing—or at least, we should be. Anonymity in online media today is a sure route down a rabbit hole into acrimony, hostility and mistaken assumptions. I am careful to only write what I am willing to put my name behind, for better or for worse. This has helped me to acquire a level of caution I didn’t used to have, and also discouraged, or at least slowed, my reactive (usually passionate) declarations or responses.
I want my words to be heard. I want them to matter. I want them to make the world better. These are not bad things!
But as we all know, we on this earth will usually have mixed motives. We are rarely driven solely by heavenly delights. I see this, when I am honest, in my writing. I feel warm and fuzzy when someone compliments my writing. I love to be loved. I love it being attributed to ME. This may not seem so bad, right? And my understanding is that it’s not all bad—it gets me taking good actions. It can grease the skids to something better. But it doesn’t necessarily elevate me into heaven, or nudge me along the path of regeneration. It could even nudge me downwards, towards my own sense of self-importance.
I came across an interesting, and challenging, passage in Divine Love and Wisdom (DLW) by Swedenborg, on this topic. DLW 418 spoke directly to me, with, “No one is to be evaluated on the basis of verbal wisdom, but on the basis of life.” It was referring to the spoken word (speechifying) but I consider public writing very similar.
I am not going to be judged on how fantastic my writing is! Darn! But on the way I live my life. Just in case I thought being such a brilliant writer, and helping so many people to understand so many issues, was my ticket to heaven!
Still, writing is a good thing. Boycotting all writing is surely not the answer. How to separate heavenly from hellish motives? In the same number, DLW says we “must lift our understanding up into heaven to see which evils are defiling our love.” Now this has always made sense to me in general but is not always easy to see specifically. In this case, it seems like staying focused on the use being served is key. People who understand the issues in our country will be able to be better citizens. Better citizens make for a better community. Reading articles in print that express heavenly values surely helps lead people to those values. In a nutshell, good writing is useful.
Would I be as dedicated a writer if my name was never attached to my articles? What if no one knew whose fabulous idea this was, or whose clear thinking clarified a given issue? I get to explore this question when I hear about something that I wrote about, but my name is not attached to it. I get no credit. Do I care? I should be glad that something good is happening, and shun any sense of resentment or yearning to be recognized. Ideally I should be so acutely aware that the good is from the Lord that I don’t have to mess with any attachment to my person.
Sometimes I feel I do this. Other times I clearly don’t. And most times, I can manage it if I make a conscious effort. Someday, I hope, it will become more automatic, effortless.
For now, then, my answer is to notice when evils do arise and separate myself from any intentions or actions associated with them. When I am criticized, it might be for a good reason. When I am ignored, it might be because my words aren’t as important as I thought. Reassuringly, DLW 418 also says that “we also see the means by which we can resolutely abstain from evils.” It’s not hidden, if we dare to look. I do have the tools. The importance part is to recognize that if good is coming from this, it is the Lord’s doing, and my good fortune to be a vessel.
Thank you for being a good vessel, Katya! I always appreciate your very relatable insights.
Love this, Katya! To me, it seems like, in youth, I often didn’t even see how much I did things from a desire to be given credit, but as I get older, it’s apparent more and more often. I suppose it’s good at some level to have any kind of motivation to be useful, but better still when we are doing it for the actual purpose of being useful, and best when we gratefully acknowledge the reality by giving all credit to the Lord for whatever good happens. I also liked how thoughtfully you addressed being responsible about what we write online, even though it’s so often something we feel really passionate about, an area where we would like to make a real difference. I have wondered if, for online conversations within and about the church, we should develop a set of guidelines/best practices people could use for online forums, maybe something similar to the small group guidelines in every Journey book, to help us remember that the point is to stick with the old mantra “true, kind and useful.” Anyway, thank you for a really thought-provoking article!
thank you Kim! Yes, I think online guidelines might help, though in the cyberspace jungle ultimately I think we are going to have to learn through hard experience, i.e. relationships damaged, misunderstandings blown up…. slowly, I feel, person by person, we are learning how to manage online communication rather than having it manage us. It makes me wonder if this happened, say, when phones were invented? I feel it did happen when TVs came into being. Millions welcomed it in without reservation. (I remember that your family certainly did not! and mine was close behind…) But today we watch only with great reservation, if at all. (And it did NOT replace theater!) We are also getting more and more judicious about our use of social media. Sometimes it seems like evil spirits are getting completely free reign in there….! Anyway, thanks for responding.
I appreciate the impeccable quality of your writing.
“In a nutshell, good writing is useful.” Yes indeed it is. I’m working on proofreading the digitised version of Potts’ Concordance; a passage I came across recently under ‘art’ seems relevant (it’s from somewhere in the Arcana): “The reason the Word could be written on our Earth is that the art of writing has been here from the most ancient time.” So you’re in good company in the writing you do! As DLW says, we should be evaluated on the basis of our lives, not just our ‘verbal wisdom’ – though you do seem to have some of that too. ;o)
FWIW, dear Katya, I think you’ve got a great track record in both verbal wisdom and life. My writing in response to people’s comments under our OTLE videos has me asking all the same questions you present here. I greatly appreciate your reflections on this dilemma of how to be a useful vessel, letting the Lord flow through. Switching my idea of “vessel” from a ceramic pot to a blood vessel was a game changer! Thanks so much for your wonderful way with words!