I have two announcements. 1) As part of my endeavor to simplify my life and lighten the load, I have decided to post to this blog every other week. I’ve been posting weekly for the last four years. I do it with a sense of ministry and joy, and I’m learning as I go. My purpose has been to explore ways of aging with courage and humor, and exploration is the right word. I’m finding the path even as I walk it. And I’ve been doing it with you. That will continue. I hope you’ll stick with me.
By the way, I invite you to check
out my website, if you haven’t already (nancyjthomas.com). You can go directly
to my blogs from there. The advantage is that it’s easier to comment if you
should wish to. I invite comments and would love to have conversations around
the subject of each blog. Think about it.
2) This is the exciting announcement.
I have a new poetry book coming out later this year. It’s called Before Our
Very Eyes: Poems of the Incarnation. The poems center on the life, work,
and words of Jesus. I’ve been working on some of them for years. Others are
new.
Several years ago, I took on the
challenge of meditating, praying, and writing poetry through all the books of
the Bible. It hasn’t been an academic exercise and I certainly haven’t had
publication in mind. It’s a devotional practice, a form of prayer.
Let me quote from the introduction
to the book to give you some of its flavor:
This book of
poems begins with a brief prophetic prologue from Isaiah, then covers the words
and experiences of Jesus in the four Gospels and the first chapter of Acts. A
short epilogue ends in Revelation. . . .
Essentially,
the poems are my conversations with God based on Scripture. God graciously give
me permission to say anything, get mad with him at times, ask any questions,
take him to task, worship him, be amazed. Nothing offends. God can take it.
Often the poem ends with an unanswered question and that’s OK. I can wait. We
have a back-and-forth relationship. In addition, this way of reading, praying,
and writing through the Bible is tremendous fun. . . .
As I ponder
the whole story of Jesus, from the Old Testament prophecies, through his time
in our neighborhood, and on to end of the story (and its real beginning), I am
amazed and blessed. . . . I pray you will experience the same.
Previously, before sending the
completed manuscript to the publisher, I had a professional proofreader
meticulously go over it. My friend, Susan Fawver, did the job beautifully, so
my task now is not so hard. Nonetheless I’m finding some things in the
type-setting to correct. There’s always a chance a typo will sneak in. So I’m
reading it slowly out loud, not for the content, but for the nitty-gritty small
stuff—consistency, matching the titles in the book to the titles in the table
of contents, checking page numbers, re-reading all the Bible references, and so
on. It’s hard work, but I’m motivated knowing that the end is in sight and I’ll
be able to share the book with the world. With you.
In many ways, the whole process—from the conception of the idea, experiencing the initial excitement, then on to the hard labor—is like giving birth. At this point I’m anxious for the whole thing to be over. I can’t wait to introduce my new child to you.
I'd be so proud of myself to publish a blog every two weeks! It can be a lot of work. Thanks for your faithfulness. I enjoy reading these posts and will continue even if they're every two weeks. Congratulations on the new book. I look forward to reading it!
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