The Edit of Autumn

Leaves are falling like snow. I had been editing my new book all day yesterday, hours and hours, and desperately needed a break. It was a beautiful day, and the orange leaves were swirling through the air all around me.The wind was snatching them from the trees and tossing them about like confetti. In my edit-overloaded mind, I could see not leaves, but thousands of unnecessary words being plucked from my book and swirling away. Some I tried desperately to hold on to...Afterall, I had struggled so long and so hard to write them in the first place. But in the end, they had to be tossed away and let the wind carry them to a sentence that could better sustain their presence.

I hate editing. I hate being edited as well, and yet God is constantly doing so. He is constantly cutting away the portions of me that are not necessary and perhaps even damaging to the story my life is meant to tell. He hacks away at the plots that deviate from His truths, or the irreverent and irrelevant thoughts that detract from the message. He whittles the poor choices and outright errors from the character development. Sometimes, like the trees, I feel like I have been stripped bare.

Ouch. It is so hard to edit. In fact, many writers cannot effectively edit their own work. They are too close to it. It has become too precious and they no longer see objectively. Likewise, it is so hard to be edited. Like the writer, we often find it difficult to edit our own character. It sometimes takes the objective and steady influence of others, and the word of God, and a convicting conscience to really accomplish the often painful task. But in the end, it is the only way to produce something of worth...and really, that is my goal, as it is His.

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Jesus said to his disciples: I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts away every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit. But he trims clean every branch that does produce fruit, so that it will produce even more fruit. When you become fruitful disciples of mine, my Father will be honored. (John 15:1, 2, 8 CEVUS06)




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