Chimes article on writing, and faith

“We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.”
--Ray Bradbury

I have fantasies, delusions maybe, of being a writer. The real problem is determining what to write. Even these little missives come hard, because I don’t just want to write, I want to write well and meaningfully (even if I do play fast and loose with my grammar from time to time). My problem is that I write in much the same way that I speak, so I tend to ramble, much like I’m doing now.
I think good writers must read, and I’ve been reading voraciously since I was very young. I prefer fiction but will read most anything. My magazine subscriptions have ranged from Popular Mechanics to Isaac Asimov’s science fiction magazine to Simple Living online, and my office is full of books, with boxes more still packed away in the garage. I read blogs (online journals) and get most of my news online, which is still reading. I am in love with text, even though it’s usually quite difficult for me to express myself in print.
That’s why the above quote has such meaning for me. While Ray Bradbury initially said it in reference to writing, I think it also applies to how we live our lives with faith. Much of the time, I suspect we feel like we have too little faith…that we are not close enough to God…that we are in some way inadequate. But I believe that because we are Christians, bound in love by God’s grace, that we are “constantly and quietly being filled” with faith. The real challenge, as Bradbury says, is learning to let all that beautiful faith out.