You have a great sense of humor. Thank you for explaining the 'vanity press' concept. It is as I suspected. "All poems are semifinalists in these stupid 'contests'" hehe. They were buttering me up with automated flattery for a buck.
They have no hint at all of your basis of appreciation. I am deeply grateful for your encouragement. I intend to keep writing. Sincerity aside, I wouldn't mind getting paid after the hummus! :)
I am slowly learning that the bottomline on communicating to another's heart is that words alone do not matter so much. Words are powerful, but there are also spiritual and emotional elements that have an important role. You, Pastor Rod, have a good sense of this in me, and in our community. You looked past the nonpoetic and grammatically incorrect parts of what I wrote, and saw what I was feeling. Thanks for insisting that I post it here, as is.
It's easier to express myself in writing. In speaking, I tend to get all obsessed with precision, so bogged down in analysis of word choice that, the opportunity to share is lost! In the meantime, life passes by, relationships don't get nurtured, etc.
"Circle us, oh Lord, Surround us in our speaking, in our thinking,...," help me to take the risk of maybe saying the wrong thing, only let me share my heart, and the love that you've so generously given me,
Dennis |
