A friend of mine is working on his first book, and he shared an advance copy with me. It’s a beautiful story, and I’ll probably talk more about it one day.
Seeing the early version of it, you can see why an editor is so important. That’s not at all a knock at my friend. It’s just the reality, you sometimes need an outsider’s perspective.
In writing and in life, you have a lot of raw material. You have thoughts, ideas, words, even actions and beliefs. You need a trusted outsider who can come in, and speak into it, who can say things like, “I see what you’re trying to say, but you need to say it differently.” Or, “This path you’re going down, this train of thought, needs to be rethought.” Or, quite simply, “You’re saying too much. You’re doing too much.”
We are in our own story, we are so zoomed in that it can be hard to see the full picture.
Now, where do we find such editors for our lives? A spiritual director or a spiritual mentor is probably the most direct example, but a spouse can certainly help here. I would also say the saints. Reading through the writings of the saints, you can kind of see what was going through their mind and use that as a reflection on the story you’re living.
Finally, we can pray to God for this insight. We can ask through the intercession of our guardian angel, who knows us more intimately than any human being on Earth.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, You are the true author of our lives. You see where our story goes. Send us the people we need to live Your story. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Keep fighting the good fight. Our Lady of Victory, pray for us.
