Freewrite for Sunday, September 6th, 2009

I almost never talk about my faith here on Gather because there are too many detractors ready to jump on with their opinions. I will say that I grew up in the Methodist religion and seem to remember that the sermons were the most boring I ever heard. It might be selective memory or the fact that I was young and restless.

Oops, forgot to mention that the freewrite was very good. I can see several very good ideas in there for ... poems.

Did the minister mention Mark 9:24 "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
NIV ?

Your freewrite went well. I can't do these; I would have had to edit the typos. I think the fact you went forward despite the distractions proves you're well suited for these.

Don't think so re: Mark 9:24.

Thanks for reading.

Susan,
I wanted to tell you I think you did wonderfully well in spite of your distraction also. You kept your train of thought and got the explanation down in spite of some very normal family interruptions. You have patience in that you finished your freewrite and then went on to family duties.Bravo

I am not sure what you expect from the viewers on the freewrites-I am guesing it is a test for correction and input as writers to spot the errors...so I will...Hope I get an A, since I just got my GED this year. My daughter taught me what I know so far, Wish me luck:
1st paragraph: Methodizt seveice=Methodist service, to it that =to it, that, doubs=doubts taught that =taught, that ( I also spotted 2 places that there should have been back a space-6 spotted errors total)
2nd paragraph: (not sure) majesty and vastness=Majesty and Vastness (2 errors spotted)
3rd paragraph: ddifficult=difficult, question. The =question, the (comma t back space, 3 errors this area), rang. And =rang, and (comma,a,backspace-3 errors this area), And same = My, again. I've= again and I've (No period and add and-2 errors), brain-gears =brains gears
4th paragraph: I found it a relief=I found it to be a relief (add to and be-2 errors), faith, but my faith, I believe is firm. Rock solid. Constant, yet changing=faith, but my faith, I believe, is firm, rock solid, constant, and yet changing (comma, comma, back space, r, comma,c, and-8 errors), . The = . The (back a space), again > . The =. The (back a space), etc. = etc, etc. (comma, etc-2 errors), . But it=. It (back a space, it-2 errors)

34 total errors. I hope you can follow all that. Email me please with your response and my grade. =)

This was a good freewrite and fun. if I am correct that these are open for edit. I appologize if I was wrong. Would you prefer a copy and an edit copy in the comment space? Let me know...Peace Susan.

David! Wow! I think you should Pass Go and get $200.00 (per Monopoly ha!ha!) and go straight to college for an English internship. Your corrections have impressed me to no end!!!!

David, while copyediting generally isn't a common response to another's freewrite, it certainly didn't bother me! And I liked hearing what you said as it gave me the opportunity to see another's perspective on my writing.

Here are a few definitions/observations about freewrite. I pulled these from About.com:
In freewriting, advises Peter Elbow in Writing Without Teachers (New York: Oxford University Press, 1973), "Never stop to look back, to cross something out, to wonder how to spell something, to wonder what word or thought to use, or to think about what you are doing." The only rule to follow in freewriting is simply not to stop writing.


"Freewriting can be compared to the warming-up exercises that athletes perform; freewriting limbers up the muscles of your mind, gets you in the mood, undams the stream of language.

"Here is a bit of practical advice: if you have mental writer's cramp, merely sit down with your journal and start entering words in it, just as they pop into your mind; don't even think about sentences necessarily, but fill a complete page of your journal with spontaneously discovered words. There is a good chance that this uncontrolled, effortless writing will begin to assume a direction that you can follow."
(W. Ross Winterowd, The Contemporary Writer: A Practical Rhetoric, 2nd ed., Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981)

I think you expressed yourself very well, here, Susan. I enjoyed reading this and learning a bit more about your life.

...and beliefs.

Hoo, difficult topic to do a quick free-write on and with all of the busy day distractions you did beautifully. I applaud your ability to let the errors stand as they are Susan. I think one of the best things to come from these free-write experiments are for each of us to recognize that we all work through inspirational draft, draft, write, re-write towards a final draft. It's a process! for everyone.

I congratulate Susan above on working toward furthering her education. Gather is a fine place to explore writing and others efforts at all levels of accomplishment.

Articles of faith and a questioning mind are a most wonderful combo. Doubt and growth go hand in hand in my experience.

Wonderful Susan, and thank you for trying to share complicated ideas with us here.

Wonderful post. You have described perfectly how the sermon you heard at the Methodist Church touched on your concern that your faith might be waning simply because you are questioning certain traditions and "ways" that you learned over the years.
I think the questioning goes along with maturing.
God's ways are not man's ways. We seem to delve into habits or traditions or "ways" that give us comfort as humans.
Traditions, within our families that we hold dear, I think, also make our religion more credible and real to us and is also a way to share our faith with our children and theirs. Traditions can be simplified, glorified or nullified. All it means is a change in something we can see, or feel, or hear or remaining with the original after we've tried a change.
Traditions change and sometimes we find we have outgrown or need to try something
different. God never changes and so our faith in Him remains in spite of the fact that we are human and sometimes need change even when He does not.
What we have learned may satisfy us to a certain degree until something else happens that causes us to question.
I think a healthy FAITH is a working Faith and as it is working in our lives it will cause ebbs and tides.

In discussing the sermon, it's clear that you paid attention to it and carried the message with you. As a youth, my dad was often unable to attend church because of his profession. Our minister was quite erudite and my father was concerned that his sermons might be over the heads of some in the congregation. For that reason he used to quiz me about what had been said in the sermon. Thus I learned at an early age to actually listen to the sermons and be prepared to report on them and discuss them. As people left the church and made generic remarks to the pastor, I often wondered if they absorbed any of the sermon or just sat and enjoyed the ambiance.

The pastor at our church this past Sunday was, as for most Protestant churches on a Holiday weekend, a guest pastor. I warmly praised his sermon and asked if it was available on-line.

He thanked me and pulled the written sermon out of his Bible and handed it to me! Wow! So I have the whole thing on my coffee table and my husband and I can discuss it accurately.

Wow, the whole sermon in writing, that is awesome. I enjoyed your writing because it reminds me of when my kids were younger. As much as those interruptions aggravate, they become something you may miss after they are gone...
Great writing though!

Lisa, I know you have a point. But since I have five kids spread out from age 24 - 9 years, that's a lot of years of interruptions. :-)

I like the wind analogy. That's a good metaphor for faith.

I never understood why people worried about questioning their faith. Many Bible characters did, even New Testament ones like John the Baptist. One of the ways humans learn is to question.

I haven't thought of this free-write in years. Thanks for commenting.