Dear John,

Two questions for you –

1. What, if anything, keeps you awake at night? and 2. Do you ever wonder if you got the whole God thing wrong?

Here’s a little elaboration on question 2. I’ve loved Jesus since I was a girl. Took it to heart in my teens. Studied apologetics in my 20s, engaged the critics. I’ve had many (not myriad) encounters with God that were miraculous to me at the time, some of which are remarkable to me still. Got married, got happy, got babies, got busy, got tired, lost some brain cells, had my share of heartache/pain. Moved lots in between.

Now I’m older, wiser, know my way around depression, fear, despair.  Watching the news, reading the internet, it would appear that faith is an antiquated thing.  Science and faith are at odds and smart people don’t believe in God. I’ve got lots of…

Bhaktopur, Nepal. All about quantity.

As writers, we edit our work. More than anyone else except, perhaps, oil painters, we labor over the fixed form until it’s “perfect.” Or as close as we can get it. Tweaking sentences and swapping out words. Junking the whole thing and starting again, treading the same path, but better. Until it wins approval, checks, awards, validation.

Stop it.

In their 2001 book Art and Fear, David Bayles and Ted Orland tell the parable of the pottery teacher:

The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh…