“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2)
For a long time, the thought that my books and other writing could truly help people has been a source of comfort and motivation in my life. However, this morning I experienced some thoughts that made me view my written work in rather a different light.
In my books, I have written about how words in themselves do not embody meaning; they are merely lines and curly symbols on a page (in their written form). What makes words meaningful is what God does in the minds of readers as they read and reflect. So meaning is always wholly dependent on the will of God.
If this is true, it means that any piece of writing could just as easily be good or awful, depending upon how God chooses for it to be received in the mind of any reader. While every piece of writing is intrinsically meaningless, as an act of grace, God can choose for it to speak to a reader in a powerful way that causes them to understand, enjoy, or even love it.
It does seem that God chooses to employ regularity in the way words are understood and interpreted, and this is why it is possible for a language, whether written or spoken, to make sense to a whole group of people. Our complete dependency on God for understanding is also the reason why a particular language may be competently understood by one person, yet be entirely empty of understanding to another.
In traditional thinking, we understand a language because we have learned and studied what words mean, and this is part of the way God chooses to manifest linguistic development and understanding, though there would be nothing to prevent God from making a foreign language intelligible to someone with no experience of it at an instant, if He were willing. God is capable of doing what we consider to be miraculous at any time.
What these thoughts mean in terms of my written work is that it will only ever be useful, helpful, or meaningful to anyone on a particular occasion if God chooses for that to be so. Of course, because God controls all things, the decision of a person to even consider reading one of my books, essays, or articles will only ever be made if God is willing.
What the discussion in this article highlights is the utter dependency of a writer on God for their work to be understood and appreciated. In the context of the arguments I have made, it seems to make sense to pray to God that one’s written work would be read and understood in a way that has a meaningful impact, though one would always have to question one’s motivations for wanting this to be so.
Why do I write? Is it to enthuse? To enlighten? To educate? To entertain? To make money? Any of these outcomes are wholly dependent on the will of God. All glory is rightly His forever and ever.
If you are interested in exploring my written work in more depth, I warmly invite you to visit my online shop at StevenColborne.com. Thank you for reading.
Perfect Chaos 