Source: www.modernekklesia.com |
For those of
you who can't join us in person, we offer the next best thing -- a blog version
of our lesson, so that you can do it at home. This series is called: Scripture
& Writing.
This week's lesson prepared by Dawn M. Hamsher
OBSERVING AND RECORDING
Prayer: Lord, help us to see the world around us as you would have us see it. Let us use the senses you gave us to record experiences and then share them with others. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Scripture Reading: Revelation 1:19
Now write down everything you see: things
that are, things about to be.
Questions:
In context, Jesus is telling John to write
down everything he sees in his spirit-visit. He is being given an assignment to
write down prophecy. Out of context, the message is observe and record
everything.
1. Why would you want to observe and record everything as a writer? How can this help your writing?
2. Give examples of spiritual observations and secular ones.
3. Read these scriptures. Why is description important?
Revelation 21:10-12, 1 Kings 7:2-3, Ezekiel 27:24
4. What senses should be used when observing?
5. How could you incorporate observing and recording into your daily life?
1. Why would you want to observe and record everything as a writer? How can this help your writing?
2. Give examples of spiritual observations and secular ones.
3. Read these scriptures. Why is description important?
Revelation 21:10-12, 1 Kings 7:2-3, Ezekiel 27:24
4. What senses should be used when observing?
5. How could you incorporate observing and recording into your daily life?
Tips for Observing and Recording – for Writing:
1. Be Prepared – Take a
notebook and pen with you wherever you go. You never know when you will see
something you want to capture.
2. Sit and Focus – Find a
place you can sit comfortably. Focus on the object or situation.
3. Use all your senses - What
do you see and hear? Is there a smell*? What does it feel like (touch or
emotions)?
*Smell can be a powerful sense that often gets overlooked in writing. See bottom of page for all the memories that came to me from smelling just one smell.
*Smell can be a powerful sense that often gets overlooked in writing. See bottom of page for all the memories that came to me from smelling just one smell.
4. Record – Jot down notes
quickly because the moment might pass and you want to get as much information
as possible. Then add date, location, time of year, scenery, etc.
5. Reflect and Expand – When
you have time, reflect on what you’ve observed and expand on it. Does it make
you think of something from your past? Could you use it for a current piece of
writing? If not, save it. Consider a filing system of observations that you
could pull from at a later date.
One Wonderful Smell
by
Dawn M. Hamsher
There was a smell. It was like rotten cheese mixed with garbage. I caught a whiff of it as I walked past an alley in downtown Charleston (S.C.), heading back to my college campus. I backed up so I could continue breathing it in. Memories flooded back from Italy, where I had lived in the fourth grade.
Trying to eat hard Panini roll hamburgers. Adopting the
stray Italian dog, only to find out he already had an Italian family. Laughing
to see a goat wander into my friend’s house and then go up their stairs. Being
chased by a cow. Living in hotels for months. Eating rum cake every night. Taking
the ferry boat to school. Seeing the rocky coast line and scraggy cork trees. Snorkeling
in the crystal clear water while watching out for sea urchins. Dipping ants in
chocolate and eating them in the school yard. Learning what a Bidet was. Watching
my mom carry all the American conveniences in her purse like toilet paper,
ketchup, and salad dressing. Having to go to Spain to get my braces and
headgear put on. Helping my dad develop photos in his darkroom. Riding in the
Riley with its steering wheel on the wrong side. Buying leather and blown glass
in the market. Playing Italian Monopoly with my dad every night after the power
went off at seven o’clock.
All those memories --from one wonderful smell.
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