I really like that question Don. I am coming out of a really bad period in my life and Wow saying you are going to recreate your story and then doing the work are two whole different things. However, it was love that got me through it. My love of faith, Jesus commands us in John to love one another and that really kept me going, my love for my children,friends and my love for life. So cliche as it is the heart I would use as the symbol of my power!
Though I don’t favor literal writing – I can’t really read my own – I’m thinking that God wants to use my writing to impact lives, and I’d like to believe he already has!
You have inspired me – and by proximity my family – in ways you may never know. We are starting our year off at the church where I serve as a pastor, by challenging people to tell better stories. I also had a great conversation with my family about this Tuesday evening as we strolled along the Riverwalk in San Antonio: http://wp.me/p1qIwP-3c
Sheesh. This is a hard question to answer. It feels like I’m summing up my whole life in one inanimate object, but I think it’s a really valid exercise in narrowing the focus of my pursuits. I love being able to listen well to important people in my life, so maybe my tool would be hearing aids. In a world of busyness and chaos I want to help reintroduce the value of a real life conversation and what’s it is like to be heard well.
I want to use media and film to impact people in a positive way by making movies that people can see and be inspired and challenged by so i think id say a camera thank you for writing don and i hope you have a great christmas
It would be nice to have anyone at all to encourage me at all to do anything at all that I’m gifted at. You are blessed to have such a person. And those of us who do not have such a thing are blessed by what you write for us. Thank you. And Merry Christmas.
Christina, I don’t know you, but wanted to encourage you in some way regardless.
Be encouraged that God sees all that you do and will reward you in Heaven.
Keep loving Jesus and serving Him with your life. Pray that He would be glorified by your life.
I hope you had a joyous and blessed Christmas. x
The symbol of my power would probably be my voice, because I’ve always been able to speak truth and encouragement to people. But I learned early on that some people didn’t want me to speak my real feelings, so I started silencing myself and became, at the same time, a much weaker person – one of those nice Christian girls. Now I am learning to speak my real thoughts again, and over time am feeling less and less like a victim.
My view. A camera. I want people to see the positive things that I can see in them. I want others to know that in the moment that a photo is taken, not only am I giving them something by saying it’s worth being shot, but that it really is a piece of their story, and therefore a sliver of history.
Merry Christmas!
You know, Don, I like this question quite a lot. I’m a writer, editor, literature graduate student, and soon-to-be library science graduate student. So I’m not exactly sure what my symbol of power is. Is it the written language? A pen also? Books? I don’t think of my computer as my symbol. I’d say a pen also. Both black and red. Also, I’m re-reading A Million Miles and Blue Like Jazz for the fourth and seventh times (respectively) during my Christmas break. Merry Christmas!
To answer your question: NO. I do not believe in my own power to shape the world. I am trying to just muster up enough power to shape my children, maybe that is my world!?
Thanks, Donna – I am right there with you. Sometimes I lose sight of it and think it’s not enough. Sometimes I think it is implied by others within ministry.
I’ve been thinking about and stuggling over this one all day, and it finally hit me. My power is alleviating people’s anxieties- in the school and in a spiritual setting. My symbol is plastered all over my car- a heart with a smily face inside. It reminds me, and hopefully others as they see it, that we all have the same heart that just wants to be happy and loved. I cut out 200 or more and sometimes give them to random strangers. On the back of the heart I write: today you were appreciated. Keep this as a reminder or pass it onto someone else that needs a little appreciation more than you do. <(:3
Thanks for sharing! What an encouraging experience. Jung talked about building sand castles as a child, then growing up and realizing he was meant to design and build his own home. This “life ethos” is supposedly something we’re drawn to since childhood, without the prodding of anyone else… truly a God-given dream. For me, I was always writing… and singing under a pine tree. Pen and voice— my tools.
You inspired me with your words to find a church that is welcoming to all people. By doing this, I am creating a loving open spiritual environment outside of my home.
My calling to change the world is through non-profit PR. I give a voice to causes. My job is to make people listen to and care about things they wouldn’t give a thought to. It doesn’t pay much (and in some cases at all) but God is good and he ensures my family is taken care of.
Not the most introspective person in the world-I am. There are so many aspects of our own society and of this fallen world that that weigh on my heart to a point of “road rage”. Unwanted and abandoned children, discarded elderly and women and children imprisoned in a life of sexual greed. Summing it up, I would symbolize my life with the blindfold of lady justice.
In the Middle East we describe a good mother’s effort in her family by saying: She lights up her 10 fingers as candle light to brighten her children’s world – bring light to thier life
Never married, thus never had children, yet I have been so blessed with so many children…they bring light to my life, I believe they mentor and encourage my heart a lot more than I mentor them! Oh how I love them all, but what i get out of it is even better! I am tremendously loved, built up, encouraged, and utterly content by the presence of young ladies, girls, and some boys [my nephews]and young guys in my life!
here’s my promise verse, which I love and am so thankful to the Lord for placing this in Isaiah 54,
1 “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child;
Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed;
For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman,” says the LORD.
One of my symbols is a pen as well.I’ve always loved them not only because of how they look,but also because of how they have helped me express myself. I feel naked when I leave the house without one. I would feel better losing my voice than not having a pen because I don’t always say the right thing,but when I write I have a chance to make an impact. I’m trying to learn to speak like I write. Not that I’m anywhere as good as you Don! I have learned from your writing how powerful words can really be.
Love it. And love the Willow message. I only pray I can embrace what’s in front of me and follow it like you and Mr. Goff. Awesome. Perfect timing, this idea has been stirring in my heart again–I’ve gotten distracted by “work” and was incredibly encouraged by the idea of fund-raising in that message. Please keep presenting all of us out here with opportunities to support you and your dreams (TMP, the movie…) I’ve also loved being a part of that. Way to go Don!!! Way to go! And Merry Christmas!
What a treasure, Don, to have a friend who believes in your words and voice and who takes the time to tell you so!
So, what’s the symbol of my power and the tool I use to shape the world? Honestly, it’s my prayer journal, which is always a Paperblank Old Leather Folio. It’s where I write out all my prayers and letters to God. Just the other day I re-read one of my journals for this past year. It was amazing to see all the ways in which God answered the prayers I prayed for myself and others. I’ve kept a prayer journal for nearly 10 years now and I have to say it is the single most powerful tool I have to shape the world.
May you have a Merry Christmas too, Don!
(oh and hey, please come speak at World Vision DC’s chapel sometime! We would love to have you there!)
I love the physicality of this question. I think my tool is a cup. Community and conversations are what make me tick, and feel most like myself. The best conversations always happen over a beverage – coffee, tea, beer, wine, whateva. “May I get you something to drink?”
That is a hard question for me. The tool I use to shape the world is a “Johnny Mop”, and I don’t think I really want to see a johnny mop as a source of power. I think I’d prefer a different shape!
I want to say that I am. But then I start looking at my life and wonder. This is one, where like you with your friend, listening to the voices in my own head may not be the place to start (his voice may be). Others say that I have made a difference in their lives and at THIS moment I am choosing to believe them, partly because they have made a difference in mine and mostly because they don’t tend to be liars (wink!).
Don,
I’ve read my share of Christian theological authors–the recent ones, I’m currently working my way through the classics–and I find them dry and didadictic. You, Brennan Manning, and C.S. Lewis help me comfortably rest and question my faith.
I think the reason you are so different from the other authors is that you are a writer who just happens to focus on Christ, whereas others are pastors, theologians, professors, writing a book… but they aren’t Writers.
I do not intend to be cruel to pastors and professors who publish books, and I have learned from them, but relatively few have kept me up at night til 2 a.m. reading.
Your gift is your pen. It is your words, and though I don’t always agree with you, you do a damn fine job of conjuring images.
Keep scribbling.
(Typed from iPhone, please forgive errors)
My symbol, currently, is a paintbrush – or rather, a pair of fine-tipped paintbrushes that a friend got for me. She has always encouraged my efforts, for which I am deeply grateful. To her, the brushes were a small gift. For me, they helped create every piece I thought worth painting. I went on to buy other paintbrushes, of course, but those two are reminders that she believes in my ability to make something worthwhile.
I have always been considered a poor writer with a small vocabulary. But what that has done has driven me to speak simplistically and concrete (usually). I’m still waiting for my pen though.
I believe one tool, and also everyone’s is our circle of friends. Clarence the Angel in “It’s a Wonderful Life” says that “No man with friends is a failure.” I say Amen to that.
PS. I love this “taking a picture of what you write” thing you’re doing.
This article about a pen being a symbol and a tool brought to mind the old adage: “The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword.”
One powerful individual thought it so appropriate, that he used it as his campaign slogan to keep the US out of WWI. That man was Woodrow Wilson. Instead, he used the pen NOT to keep us out of war, but to sign a Declaration of War to the contrary.
Therefore, a tool was misused for war rather than peace.
Do I believe in my own power to shape the world? What tool would I use? Would a pen be the tool? What singular tool is more powerful behind that tool? The brain? The heart? The soul? The Holy Spirit?
Before becoming a Christian I wrote a poem.
FATE
Let fate appear however fixed it may,
Bow not your head in meek humility.
What appears today the mask of destiny,
Was one of many choices yesterday.
And if today’s results seem made without you,
Tomorrow’s choices now stand round about you.
Even as a non-Christian, the use of the mind is a tool to shape the world. Later as a Christian this verse clarified that tool for me:
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14
We make tools and God makes tools. I pray in His Will to make and use me as a tool to shape the world, His world and not mine. Not in my will, but His will.
As a convert to Christianity, the Apostle Paul was probably the most prepared by his own power to shape the world. But was it his power or God’s?
Paul was trained in Greek philosophy, rhetoric, debate, Jewish law and this was embodied in a rather small and weak frame and body. If God picked a tool, He chose a rather weak tool from the outside. Before his conversion this tool worked against the will of God.
After his conversion, God used this weak tool with the embodiment of the Holy Spirit.
Dear Lord, use my whole being; mind, body and soul as a tool, in your will and not mine with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to shape whichever world you wish; small or big.
My tool would be art and teaching. I use both to teach Sunday school to 4th-5th-6th graders. I love teaching the class; I love the kids that I teach. I wonder if the kids ARE being impacted, but try not to dwell on that aspect too much. I feel drawn to continue in this ministry and pour myself into it whether I can see an impact or not. Aside from an occassional note from a parent (more often my supervisor in children’s ministries than not)there isn’t too much feedback. So I just try to carry on and trust that God is using it to work in their hearts and minds.
I really like that question Don. I am coming out of a really bad period in my life and Wow saying you are going to recreate your story and then doing the work are two whole different things. However, it was love that got me through it. My love of faith, Jesus commands us in John to love one another and that really kept me going, my love for my children,friends and my love for life. So cliche as it is the heart I would use as the symbol of my power!
Dave sounds like a good friend. I’m glad you have good friends in your life, because I, for one, am shaped by your words.
Though I don’t favor literal writing – I can’t really read my own – I’m thinking that God wants to use my writing to impact lives, and I’d like to believe he already has!
I love this series, and this is one of my favorites. How inspiring.
You have inspired me – and by proximity my family – in ways you may never know. We are starting our year off at the church where I serve as a pastor, by challenging people to tell better stories. I also had a great conversation with my family about this Tuesday evening as we strolled along the Riverwalk in San Antonio: http://wp.me/p1qIwP-3c
Hard to beat the Riverwalk at Christmas time…magical and enchanting!
Sheesh. This is a hard question to answer. It feels like I’m summing up my whole life in one inanimate object, but I think it’s a really valid exercise in narrowing the focus of my pursuits. I love being able to listen well to important people in my life, so maybe my tool would be hearing aids. In a world of busyness and chaos I want to help reintroduce the value of a real life conversation and what’s it is like to be heard well.
That’s awesome!
I want to use media and film to impact people in a positive way by making movies that people can see and be inspired and challenged by so i think id say a camera thank you for writing don and i hope you have a great christmas
It would be nice to have anyone at all to encourage me at all to do anything at all that I’m gifted at. You are blessed to have such a person. And those of us who do not have such a thing are blessed by what you write for us. Thank you. And Merry Christmas.
Christina, I don’t know you, but wanted to encourage you in some way regardless.
Be encouraged that God sees all that you do and will reward you in Heaven.
Keep loving Jesus and serving Him with your life. Pray that He would be glorified by your life.
I hope you had a joyous and blessed Christmas. x
The symbol of my power would probably be my voice, because I’ve always been able to speak truth and encouragement to people. But I learned early on that some people didn’t want me to speak my real feelings, so I started silencing myself and became, at the same time, a much weaker person – one of those nice Christian girls. Now I am learning to speak my real thoughts again, and over time am feeling less and less like a victim.
My view. A camera. I want people to see the positive things that I can see in them. I want others to know that in the moment that a photo is taken, not only am I giving them something by saying it’s worth being shot, but that it really is a piece of their story, and therefore a sliver of history.
Merry Christmas!
You know, Don, I like this question quite a lot. I’m a writer, editor, literature graduate student, and soon-to-be library science graduate student. So I’m not exactly sure what my symbol of power is. Is it the written language? A pen also? Books? I don’t think of my computer as my symbol. I’d say a pen also. Both black and red.
Also, I’m re-reading A Million Miles and Blue Like Jazz for the fourth and seventh times (respectively) during my Christmas break. Merry Christmas!
I’m such a big fan of yours… Thank you for all of your thought provoking inspiration!
jenny
To answer your question: NO. I do not believe in my own power to shape the world. I am trying to just muster up enough power to shape my children, maybe that is my world!?
Thanks, Donna – I am right there with you. Sometimes I lose sight of it and think it’s not enough. Sometimes I think it is implied by others within ministry.
I’ve been thinking about and stuggling over this one all day, and it finally hit me. My power is alleviating people’s anxieties- in the school and in a spiritual setting. My symbol is plastered all over my car- a heart with a smily face inside. It reminds me, and hopefully others as they see it, that we all have the same heart that just wants to be happy and loved. I cut out 200 or more and sometimes give them to random strangers. On the back of the heart I write: today you were appreciated. Keep this as a reminder or pass it onto someone else that needs a little appreciation more than you do. <(:3
Pajama pants.
Thanks for sharing! What an encouraging experience. Jung talked about building sand castles as a child, then growing up and realizing he was meant to design and build his own home. This “life ethos” is supposedly something we’re drawn to since childhood, without the prodding of anyone else… truly a God-given dream. For me, I was always writing… and singing under a pine tree. Pen and voice— my tools.
You inspired me with your words to find a church that is welcoming to all people. By doing this, I am creating a loving open spiritual environment outside of my home.
My calling to change the world is through non-profit PR. I give a voice to causes. My job is to make people listen to and care about things they wouldn’t give a thought to. It doesn’t pay much (and in some cases at all) but God is good and he ensures my family is taken care of.
You totally just inspired me just now. That’s beautiful.
Not the most introspective person in the world-I am. There are so many aspects of our own society and of this fallen world that that weigh on my heart to a point of “road rage”. Unwanted and abandoned children, discarded elderly and women and children imprisoned in a life of sexual greed. Summing it up, I would symbolize my life with the blindfold of lady justice.
Candle Light!
In the Middle East we describe a good mother’s effort in her family by saying: She lights up her 10 fingers as candle light to brighten her children’s world – bring light to thier life
Never married, thus never had children, yet I have been so blessed with so many children…they bring light to my life, I believe they mentor and encourage my heart a lot more than I mentor them! Oh how I love them all, but what i get out of it is even better! I am tremendously loved, built up, encouraged, and utterly content by the presence of young ladies, girls, and some boys [my nephews]and young guys in my life!
here’s my promise verse, which I love and am so thankful to the Lord for placing this in Isaiah 54,
1 “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child;
Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed;
For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman,” says the LORD.
One of my symbols is a pen as well.I’ve always loved them not only because of how they look,but also because of how they have helped me express myself. I feel naked when I leave the house without one. I would feel better losing my voice than not having a pen because I don’t always say the right thing,but when I write I have a chance to make an impact. I’m trying to learn to speak like I write. Not that I’m anywhere as good as you Don! I have learned from your writing how powerful words can really be.
Love it. And love the Willow message. I only pray I can embrace what’s in front of me and follow it like you and Mr. Goff. Awesome. Perfect timing, this idea has been stirring in my heart again–I’ve gotten distracted by “work” and was incredibly encouraged by the idea of fund-raising in that message. Please keep presenting all of us out here with opportunities to support you and your dreams (TMP, the movie…) I’ve also loved being a part of that. Way to go Don!!! Way to go! And Merry Christmas!
What a treasure, Don, to have a friend who believes in your words and voice and who takes the time to tell you so!
So, what’s the symbol of my power and the tool I use to shape the world? Honestly, it’s my prayer journal, which is always a Paperblank Old Leather Folio. It’s where I write out all my prayers and letters to God. Just the other day I re-read one of my journals for this past year. It was amazing to see all the ways in which God answered the prayers I prayed for myself and others. I’ve kept a prayer journal for nearly 10 years now and I have to say it is the single most powerful tool I have to shape the world.
May you have a Merry Christmas too, Don!
(oh and hey, please come speak at World Vision DC’s chapel sometime! We would love to have you there!)
My camera pen so I don’t have to write 1,000 words, just a caption (grin)
I love the physicality of this question. I think my tool is a cup. Community and conversations are what make me tick, and feel most like myself. The best conversations always happen over a beverage – coffee, tea, beer, wine, whateva. “May I get you something to drink?”
The symbol of my power? The tool I use to shape the world? A smile. Warmth. Try it. It really works!
Hey Don,
Your words have most definitely shaped the course of my life. On many occasions your books have championed the dreamer in me or quieted the voice of self doubt. For this season in life words are definitely my medium but the tools of my trade are these babies http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/394000_10150456787129351_828449350_8339339_2099322102_n.jpg
I find that music has served as the perfect language to intervene when my words fall short.
Thanks for all you do
Because of it I hope to shape some hearts as well
That is a hard question for me. The tool I use to shape the world is a “Johnny Mop”, and I don’t think I really want to see a johnny mop as a source of power. I think I’d prefer a different shape!
I want to say that I am. But then I start looking at my life and wonder. This is one, where like you with your friend, listening to the voices in my own head may not be the place to start (his voice may be). Others say that I have made a difference in their lives and at THIS moment I am choosing to believe them, partly because they have made a difference in mine and mostly because they don’t tend to be liars (wink!).
Don,
I’ve read my share of Christian theological authors–the recent ones, I’m currently working my way through the classics–and I find them dry and didadictic. You, Brennan Manning, and C.S. Lewis help me comfortably rest and question my faith.
I think the reason you are so different from the other authors is that you are a writer who just happens to focus on Christ, whereas others are pastors, theologians, professors, writing a book… but they aren’t Writers.
I do not intend to be cruel to pastors and professors who publish books, and I have learned from them, but relatively few have kept me up at night til 2 a.m. reading.
Your gift is your pen. It is your words, and though I don’t always agree with you, you do a damn fine job of conjuring images.
Keep scribbling.
(Typed from iPhone, please forgive errors)
And let me clarify: I put you, Brennan Manning, and C.S. Lewis in the same camp as Writers. Anne Lamott belongs there too.
My symbol, currently, is a paintbrush – or rather, a pair of fine-tipped paintbrushes that a friend got for me. She has always encouraged my efforts, for which I am deeply grateful. To her, the brushes were a small gift. For me, they helped create every piece I thought worth painting. I went on to buy other paintbrushes, of course, but those two are reminders that she believes in my ability to make something worthwhile.
Thank you for sharing encouragement.
Mine would be an AK-47 – shooting laughing bullets of love because sometimes Christians are so serious its boring.
PS. I am one chapter in to “Searching for God….” And it is a hilarious treat with truth frosting…thanks
I have always been considered a poor writer with a small vocabulary. But what that has done has driven me to speak simplistically and concrete (usually). I’m still waiting for my pen though.
I believe one tool, and also everyone’s is our circle of friends. Clarence the Angel in “It’s a Wonderful Life” says that “No man with friends is a failure.” I say Amen to that.
PS. I love this “taking a picture of what you write” thing you’re doing.
This article about a pen being a symbol and a tool brought to mind the old adage: “The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword.”
One powerful individual thought it so appropriate, that he used it as his campaign slogan to keep the US out of WWI. That man was Woodrow Wilson. Instead, he used the pen NOT to keep us out of war, but to sign a Declaration of War to the contrary.
Therefore, a tool was misused for war rather than peace.
Do I believe in my own power to shape the world? What tool would I use? Would a pen be the tool? What singular tool is more powerful behind that tool? The brain? The heart? The soul? The Holy Spirit?
Before becoming a Christian I wrote a poem.
FATE
Let fate appear however fixed it may,
Bow not your head in meek humility.
What appears today the mask of destiny,
Was one of many choices yesterday.
And if today’s results seem made without you,
Tomorrow’s choices now stand round about you.
Even as a non-Christian, the use of the mind is a tool to shape the world. Later as a Christian this verse clarified that tool for me:
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14
We make tools and God makes tools. I pray in His Will to make and use me as a tool to shape the world, His world and not mine. Not in my will, but His will.
As a convert to Christianity, the Apostle Paul was probably the most prepared by his own power to shape the world. But was it his power or God’s?
Paul was trained in Greek philosophy, rhetoric, debate, Jewish law and this was embodied in a rather small and weak frame and body. If God picked a tool, He chose a rather weak tool from the outside. Before his conversion this tool worked against the will of God.
After his conversion, God used this weak tool with the embodiment of the Holy Spirit.
Dear Lord, use my whole being; mind, body and soul as a tool, in your will and not mine with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to shape whichever world you wish; small or big.
I pick the tool of the Holy Spirit.
my power is inclusiveness. my symbol would be a look, a smile, a laugh, or a hug. or a knife, cuz i cut right through the bulls***
My tool would be art and teaching. I use both to teach Sunday school to 4th-5th-6th graders. I love teaching the class; I love the kids that I teach. I wonder if the kids ARE being impacted, but try not to dwell on that aspect too much. I feel drawn to continue in this ministry and pour myself into it whether I can see an impact or not. Aside from an occassional note from a parent (more often my supervisor in children’s ministries than not)there isn’t too much feedback. So I just try to carry on and trust that God is using it to work in their hearts and minds.
[...] Miller recently posted the question in his blog, “Do you believe in your own power to shape the world?” My first thought was, [...]
My symbol is my guitar. I’m going on tour in 3 weeks and i hope i bring something positive to the people i meet along the way.