Last week I got stuck for a topic for my weekly post.  No idea I tried out really went anywhere. Then I happened to see a rebroadcast of the Elizabeth Gilbert interview on PBS’ Great Conversations that I had mentioned in a previous post, The Gems Within – specifically her observation that there is a spirit in the universe that’s seeking human expression. If we don’t let it work in us, it will move on to someone else who will respond.

This time, though, I was struck by a different thought.  She reported that a songwriter friend of hers would either get stuck for inspiration or not be able to develop any ideas he did have.  He told Elizabeth he would have a conversation with this spirit and say, “I really need you to show up – I can’t do this on my own!” I realized that I had felt that inspiration on all earlier posts and I sure needed it now. After all, God inspired me to start this blog, and I’ve been so happy to get reports that a particular post had given a reader a needed boost or insight, in ways I can only attribute to the Lord’s special knowledge of their needs.

So I decided to not force it but just keep praying and thinking until I felt that familiar rush of excitement and certainty that I was on the right track.  It’s getting the focus or central thought right, then everything else falls into place. That was Thursday night and I’d been pondering for two days. I got up last Friday morning and the idea “showed up.” It was almost a duh! because the inspiration that got me out of being stuck was writing about being stuck! (One Foot Into the Darkness)

So today’s post is really a continuation of last week’s –  the first step or that first blow on a wedge is our part. I’d sorted through my thoughts and started to write, but I couldn’t proceed without divine inspiration. Receiving that required a different sort of action – active waiting – mirroring this scripture from Isaiah:

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

Now I get this scripture and I really learned the lesson through teaching Sunday School for over two years.  I could study and lay out a lesson, but on my own I struggled to create the right focus or impact.  I needed to think, ask, and wait, then repeat as often as necessary. (Hey, that could be a book title, like Eat, Pray, Love!)  

It was active waiting, expectant waiting, anticipatory waiting that got my silent partner to participate. The guidance was subtle and often last minute, but it always came.  And it brought an excitement that felt just like I’d expect mounting up with the wings as eagles to feel. That three-way connection between me, my readers, and God is a total trip, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and socially. It’s not work, it’s fulfillment – thanks for participating!

For more insights, you might read the LDS Bible Dictionary on Prayer, the next to last paragraph, available online or the linked scriptures in the LDS Topical Guide under Ask.

From The Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo da Vinci
The National Gallery, London, public domain image