Script Writing

When we think of it in terms of a profession, many of us may not see ourselves as a Script Writer.  It sounds so formal, yet so glamorous, so Hollywood-ish.  That's what I thought it was, especially  knowing that I have a niece who writes professional scripts that have the look and feel of Broadway or Hollywood . Well, the School of Life has shown me that not only I, but most of us, live as bit players on a stage we didn't construct and don't own.  Life can be so exciting but also mundane---pedestrian  We remember the big things, sometimes,but usually operate from the persona of a puppet, as if we have no control over our life, world, and affairs.  Maybe we don't.  But what if we do?

What if our dreams really could come true if or when we chose to take ownership of the three-act play that we sometimes woodenly walk through, often forgetting our lines? What if we have missed opportunities to be in charge of our destiny, with help from God.  "Ask and it shall be given; seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened" comes as invitation or promise;
it depends on how you look at life. A disillusioned  and distraught Macbeth lamented:

               "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
               Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
               To the last syllable of recorded time;
               And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
               The way to dusty death.  Out! Out brief candle!
               Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
               That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
               And then is heard no more.  It is a tale
               Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
               Signifying nothing."

What I've come to realize is that we humans have more power than we know what to do with.  Oops, I ended a sentence with a preposition! I got POWER! You got POWER! All God's chillen got POWER! Those lyrics are a take-off on an old Negro spiritual, "I got shoes, you got shoes, all God's chillen got shoes.  And when I get to heaven, gonna put on my shoes and walk around heaven all day." By the end of the song, "I'm" fully robed!  We truly do have power; the problem seems to be either that we don't know it, don't believe, or we're afraid to access it. How does power look? Differently for each one of us, for sure, but there, within.  


Typically as adults, we talk ourselves out of power (no matter how we define it)  long before we believe or speak it.  No, the internal talks we have with ourselves,  sometimes incessantly it seems, begin and end in our  mind.  Why are we so afraid even to think about the power we possess?  We position ourselves as the sentry in our mind, locking out hopes, dreams, and desires.  We don't let possibilities enter the gate in any form.  At least that's what I do!

As kids we usually are not introduced to the concept of power until we're in high school (usually in a Gifted or Advanced Placement AP class, maybe in chemistry or physics), or in college, we are late learning how to appropriate or use it.  Thus, we often misuse or clumsily apply it. Actually, the concept of power should be introduced at the beginning of Middle School (sixth or seven grade), when preteens begin stretching their muscles around it, often incorrectly or inappropriately. They may not call it by name, but seeing how much or how far they can go without adult restrictions to get what they want seems to hallmark their behaviors.  POWER. It's a powerful word defined in some dictionaries as" Great or marked ability to do or act; strength, authority; ascendancy." Understanding it in middle school could diminish a bushel basket of demerits and "times out" they receive.  and prepare us to use it later on.

The question remains, why the reluctance to admit we have power and then take  a step further to accept it and put it to good use?  We can avoid a lot of angst if instead of giving up on success, for example, we could take the risk or dusting off those dreams and hopes, we discarded in cobwebby corners of our mind, look it square in the eye and declare, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"

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