By's Musings

Health

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My Plan for Digging Myself Out of a Deep Hole

from Presenter Media

This post has been in the works for a long time. My blog posting pen has been essentially silent for a year. I apologize for the great delay. The delay was essentially due to ongoing medical problems, which were beyond my ability to remediate. Even my doctors didn’t really know what was going on. They refer to me as “Their special case!” Once during an extended EEG, I had a series of sensory dysfunction events. I asked my neurologist if they saw something in the EEG results. He replied, “Sort of! There was a lot of spurious activity going on in your head.” I asked him what he meant by that. He replied, “There was a great deal of brain wave activity recorded. However, it was occurring in parts of the brain where we weren’t expecting to see that kind of activity.” 

from Presenter Media

During my long year’s absence from the blogging scene, I have generated a list of more than 300 blog posts which I want to write. I have committed to myself to knock off at least three of these posts per month for as long as I am able to write. If I add no more potential posts to my To Write List (UNLIKELY!)), it would only take me eight years to dig myself out of the hole that I am in. If I could dig myself out, I would be one happy little groundhog. With God’s help that is what I will be endeavoring to do.

from Presenter Media

Why only three per month?  It could be more. I chose to allow myself the option of succumbing to the tyranny of the urgent, and writing no more than one emergency post per month. These would be topics that come up at the last minute and have a sense of urgency in terms of the timeliness of their publication. I would write these posts to put out small fires.This post is an example of such an urgent topic.  

Almost all of my fires of the past six plus years have been health related. Even in the face of seemingly unrelenting illnesses, I know that God still cares for me and has a job for me to do.  I know this because I serve the same God as King David and the Disciple Peter, These men of God urged everyone to rely completely and only on God.

2 And he [David] said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; 3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. 4 I will call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. (2 Samuel 22:2 – 4, KJV)

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. (I Peter 5:7, KJV)

Jesus speaking to all His disciples shortly before His crucifixion, summarized the source of the power and joy that He was offering to them.

 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. (John 15: 4-11, KJV)

Note the stark contrast in verse 5, “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”  Please pray with me that both you and I can abide in Christ. If we do, then He will abide in us, and we will be able to do much for Him. If we don’t abide in Christ, we risk being pruned and casted aside. What will it be? Abide or Aside?

In my November 2014 post ” Which would you find more acceptable in your back yard: A toxic waste dump or a murder of crows? ” I indicated that a post entitled Who is my Neighbor? was to be the next post in the series of posts on neighbors and the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) debate. I am announcing that I am finally getting around to writing that post which will be published next week. Please pray with me that God will give me the power and insight to answer the question: “Who is my neighbor?”

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Visual Story Board for Manuscript Title, Part II

from Presenter Media

In my previous post, I indicated that in this post I would attempt to explain how I decided that the next word in my manuscript title, An Explorer’s Guide to Biblical Life Planning: Student Version, should be Guide. After coming up with the word Explorer, I wanted a word which would describe the type of book that I was writing. I wanted the word to describe how an Explorer would use this book. Every author somewhere needs to answer the question, “How should this book be used?” What better place to answer this question than in the title? What visual scenes came to my mind as I contemplated this question?  I will admit that the first scenes that I saw were scenes that I immediately rejected.

 

from Presenter Media
from Presenter Media
from Presenter Media

I did not want my book to be a  cook book that provided a step-by-step recipe for living one’s life. I did not want to convey the idea that God is a puppet master pulling our strings and controlling every movement.

 

 

 

from Presenter Media
from Presenter Media
from Presenter Media

My book is not a book of do’s and don’ts that portrays God as a policeman that is waiting to pounce on an individual for overlooking one commandment. I don’t mean for my book to be a law book. It’s also not a book that portrays God as a vindictive judge that is ready to “throw the book” at everyone who comes before Him. Yes, God is a righteous judge who has a set of laws that He intends for us to obey. However, as David reminds us in one of his morning prayers:

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. 14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. (Psalm 103: 8 – 15; KJV)

from Presenter Media
Image from Presenter Media
from Presenter Media\
from Presenter Media

If those are not the images I wanted to use for my title, what images did I want to use? They were images that portrayed assistance to the reader. I wanted my help to help the reader find his or her way through the maze of life to find the fulfillment that God intended for them. The first three visuals did exactly that. However, the words that emanated from the visuals, (compass, maze, diagram, map) didn’t convey the ideas that I wanted or needed in the book title.

 

from Presenter Media

 

from Presenter Media

Finally, I can check off this desire. With the fourth visual, I found the word that I was seeking.

The term is Guide. A guide dog doesn’t tell its user where to go. The blind person directs the dog to where he or she wants to go. It is the responsibility of the human member of the team to listen for the movement of traffic and other sounds in the environment to determine whether it is safe to proceed. A guide dog doesn’t tell the human user where to go. The human picks the intended destination. The guide dog helps the human maneuver around fixed obstacles. The human is still responsible for avoiding any moving obstacles. A travel guide book doesn’t tell the tourist what sites to visit. It highlights places and things worth visiting. The human tourist makes the final choice of where to go and what to do.

In my next post, I will explain the phrase Life Planning. I will discuss where it came from and what I mean by it.

 

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VIsual Story Board for Manuscript Title, Part I

In my previous post, Writing Using Visual Thinking as a Starting Point, I indicated that I was working on a book manuscript with the working title, An Explorer’s Guide to Biblical LIfe Planning: Student Version. In this current series of posts I will take you through the story boards that I built to come up with that title. Due to the length and intricacies of these story boards it will take at least five posts to explain my thinking. In this first post I will concentrate on the first phrase in the title, An Explorer.   I wanted this first phrase to indicate both the type of individual to whom the book was addressed and the approach to studying the book the reader should take.

from Presenter Media

I wanted to focus on individuals who, when standing on the edge of a precipice, are willing to look across to the other side and consider whatever crossing avenues are available, no matter how frightened they might be. I wanted to address those individuals who are courageous enough to try to cross that rickety bridge.

 

 

from Presenter Media

I wanted to address those individuals who are willing to use a number of different paths and modes of transportation to achieve their goals. They are willing to do whatever it takes to reach the summit. They aren’t afraid to change mid-stream to a different approach.

from Presenter Media.
from Presenter Media

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to reach individuals who are willing to search high and low for answers.

from Presenter Media
from Presenter Media

 

 

I wanted to speak to individuals who are not afraid of books, particularly the Bible. These individuals have an affinity for books and are eager to spend time studying them deeply.

 

 

from Presenter Media
from Presenter Media

I wanted to speak to individuals who have a deep curiosity about the world and are not afraid to investigate it. They spend time looking carefully at the surface details, but also are brave enough to look beneath the surface.

 

 

Digital Illustration of a Viking Ship from Graphic Stock
from GraphicStock

The individuals to whom I am writing may have a good idea of where God is leading them, but don’t know all of the details. Even with their incomplete information, they are still ready to sail off into stormy waters and unknown seas like Leif Erikson or Christopher Columbus.

 

from GraphicStock

More modern versions of brave adventurers of this type include New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese SherpaTenzing Norgay, who were the first to reach the top of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, at 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953.  In the intervening years, more than 2000 climbers have reached that peak. However, a number of attempted climbs have ended tragically. More than 200 climbers have died on Mt. Everest’s treacherous slopes. The current year, 2015, is the most costly in terms of human life, with more than 20 climbers perishing as a result of an avalanche in April.

from GraphicStock

One more recent event than the initial climbing of Mt. Everest that caught the imagination of the world is the moon landings of the American space program. Neil Armstrong and Edwin (“Buzz”) Aldrin, two of the three astronauts in the Apollo 11 space craft, were the first two men to walk on the moon. Since their historical steps, there have been 10 more men to walk on the moon. There could have been two more. However, while en route to the moon, Apollo 13 had serious difficulties. It circled the moon but never landed on it. Almost everyone remembers the famous line from the movie account on this expedition: “Houston, we have a problem!” This is actually a misquote of the line spoken by Apollo 13 commander, Jim Lovell, who really said, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” Notice the past tense in the Lovell version of the line. The present tense in the movie line makes for a more dramatic moment.

from GraphicStock

As we look to the future, who can forget the opening lines from the space-based science fiction television series, Star Trek? “Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.” There is the word, I am searching for: explore

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With all these images floating around in my head, I finally found the word that I needed to use in my title to describe the people to whom I am addressing my book. The one word that fits all of my images is EXPLORER. Hence the opening phrase, “An Explorer’s…” In my next post I will break down the images behind the next word in the title, “Guide“.

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Writing Using Visual Thinking as a Starting Point

Ever since I made the observation that I believed that my primary mode of thinking had changed from a verbal basis to a visual one, people have asked me the very appropriate question: “What do you mean by that?” In this post, I attempt to illustrate the process that I am now using to write. I will use an example from a book manuscript on which I am currently working.

The working title of my book is An Explorer’s Guide to Biblical Life Planning:Student Version. How did I come up with that title? I literally spent many hours every day over several weeks thinking about and experimenting with a number of different titles. When I wanted to convey that particular thought to you, the first things that came to my mind were pictures of a clock, a calendar, and an individual sitting at a desk thinking and writing. I felt the urgent need to get this book written and my ideas down on paper. The calendar and the clock were always hanging over my head. However, no matter how hard I tried, there were times when good ideas seemed to escape me. The thought bubble in my mind was empty.

Image from Presenter Media
Image from Presenter Media. Used with permissiong

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The illustration above is not the exact picture I had in my mind. I am not  sufficiently talented enough as an artist to sketch the picture that I see in my head and have you understand what I have sketched. In this post, I am using stock illustrations that I found on the internet. Initially, I didn’t realize it, but this type of search process is a two-way street, with one idea leading to another. As I looked for images that represented what I was seeing in my head, I found images that sparked other ideas in my mind. The two idea bubbles to the right represent that thought. The road sign and the sketch representing the transfer of information between my mind and my computer show the back and forth going on in my head, between visual and verbal thinking, and how ideas in one arena generate ideas in the other.

from Presenter Media
Image from GraphicStock. Used with permission

Why is the process of picking a title so hard? It is so difficult because the title of a book is extremely important. It must do much work. It must have arms to carry a load of conveying the theme and major ideas of the book. It must also reach out and grab a potential reader’s attention. It must have legs to walk on its own. It must go to where the reader lives. Its message must tell the story of the book in a very few words. The title must be memorable. If a reader can’t recall the title of a book, that reader won’t keep going back to the book or recommend it to other people. If a book’s title doesn’t speak to a reader, and that reader doesn’t find the title interesting and appealing, it is very unlikely the reader will pick up that book, hold on to it, read it, walk with it, live with it and, in general, spend time with it.

Readers need to spend time with this book as if it were a friend. For a friend, people will make time in their otherwise busy schedule. They spend time with a friend, walking and talking. Amos 3:3  asks “Can two walk together, except they be agreed? (KJV)  The Hebrew translated agreed means to meet by appointment. Readers need to  put time for this book into their regular schedule. Visually, what I want to happen is illustrated below:

from Presenter Media

I hope this gives my readers a little insight into my daily battle with writing. With God’s help, I will finish An Explorer’s Guide to Biblical Life Planning: Student Version, and mid- to late-adolescents will spend time in the book, and find insights into what God has in store for them. Don’t worry parents, I already have in mind a follow-up that I have tenatively entitled An Explorer’s Guide to Biblical Life Planning: PG Version. In that version I will hopefully provide parental guidance on how to help their children make very difficult decisions and navigate through very troubling times in their lives. That’s my daily prayer. I entreat you to join me in that prayer. If you do, you will have my back and uphold me. In my next post, I will attempt to explain what’s behind the title, An Explorer’s Guide to Biblical Life Planning. Thanks in advance for your prayers. God’s peace and blessings be with you!

from Presenter Media
Making Notes In An Organizer And Having A Coffee Break. Image from GraphicStock. Used by permission
from Presenter Media
from Presenter Media

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Overview of By’s Musings

You have reached my blog, which I intend to use for writing about my passions. I am working on a schedule of publishing a new post at least once a week, usually on Monday mornings. Please check back regularly or subscribe to be informed of new posts. Currently you will find blogs in the following major categories: