Editing the Future
/The thing is, I love to edit. I believe it’s during the editing process where my best writing happens. Sometimes I write down ideas with no clear direction of where it will go, just so I’ll have some material to edit. I have no idea the theme, or the punch line until I start editing and it leaps out.
Editing often means cutting the original idea that birthed the essay, and that’s especially hard. I tend to value process over end results, so cutting out the beginning feels like betrayal. But I’ve learned to be ruthless, eliminating anything that doesn’t help make the point, even if was my original inspiration, even if it was my favorite joke, even if it was a connection I was especially proud of.
Unfortunately, I’m never finished editing. I’ll make changes every time I read a piece. In my most recent book, Practicing Faith, I made at least eight editing runs through the entire book, and that was after countless hours spent on each individual piece. Then, I sent it off to my professional editor for expert help.
I often wish I had a writing supervisor to grab the copy from my hands and turn it in, instead of having to decide myself. It’s difficult to stop editing.
And writing isn’t the only thing I edit; I’m constantly fiddling with my own life – throwing out what hasn’t worked or I no longer care about and reinforcing the best parts tweaking my daily schedule and routine with an eye toward sustainability, and like that. I usually call it goal setting, but it’s editing.
The scary part? Just like editing an essay, once I start making changes, I lose control of the finished product. Personal change is never a stand-alone thing; it always affects more than we expect. We can’t know exactly who we will be on the other side of an attempted or accomplished goal.
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I was riffing in my journal on the verse Isaiah 46:4, which says, “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” (NIV)
I like the sustain, carry, and rescue part of that verse, but I balk at the phrase, old age. There are occasions when it feels more than appropriate, however; mostly on days a new discomfort kicks in, such as an aching jaw, ankle pain, gout, dislocated ribs, or an arthritic thumb.
I remember when one of my favorite Bible verses was 1 Timothy 4:12, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.”
Nowadays, when someone looks down on me because of my behavior, I can’t blame it on youth and inexperience. It’s my own fault if my speech, conduct, love, faith, or purity don’t measure up. I can only blame myself. I’ve had plenty of time and opportunity to learn godly behavior.
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So back to editing. With my 65th birthday approaching, I’m reworking my list of 100 Life Goals. (You should have your own list. If you don’t, write to me … I’ll help you get started.) It isn’t a bucket list as much as it is a roadmap, or better, a compass, pointing my life in the direction I want to go.
My purpose in life has been to share what I’ve learned, to tell stories that guide people to a deeper life with God. It’s why I teach, why I mentor, and why I write. And having a list of goals? That’s editing the future.
“I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free.”
Psalm 119:32
