Know-Love-Obey God

I just finished my latest High Calling Blogs poetry assignment and am full of thoughts on poetry.

I’ve often wondered why someone (me) with an engineering background wants to write children’s fiction. Then I stepped into poetry (lured in by L.L. Barkat) and wondered the same thing—why I, of all people, want to write poems.

Funny, I came across this in one of my current reads:

“Who said you weren’t a scientist?” he demanded.

“I’m not. Ask John or Suzy.”

“You’re a poet.” I thought of the sonnet in my jeans pocket. “And so are most scientists.”

- from A Ring of Endless Light, by Madeleine L’Engle

Now that made my day. (It also brought to mind a scientist I know, a worshipper of God who has also responded to the High Calling Blogs poetry prompts. Bravo!)

I share Laura’s excitement about poetry. I don’t have to be good at it. I don’t even have to know what I’m doing. I just have to try it—to jump right in—in order for poetry to have its many effects on me.

Here are just a few:

- It is mentally stimulating.

- It heightens my awareness.

- It feeds my sense of wonder.

- It makes me a better children’s writer.

- It caused me to respond to a situation with grace, love, a sense of humor, and a light heart (instead of frustration, anger, bitterness).