By Lynn H Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn

In these posts, I often talk about various facets of the writing life. But this month, I want to recommend a book to you that isn’t about the craft, but that I think could be quite meaningful to you in your life as a writer and creative, particularly as we navigate this season of uncertainty.

The book is Every Moment Holy by Douglas Kaine McKelvey.

I didn’t grow up in a faith tradition that included liturgies, but I have always been drawn to ancient words. To creeds and prayers that have been repeated by the saints for centuries. It’s not that I believe God hears them any more than He hears my petitions in modern-day, American and very Southern English, but I love the history of them and the sense of connection to believers who have gone on before.

So a few years ago when I came across a post over at The Rabbit Room entitled A Liturgy for Fiction Writers, I was intrigued.

While the liturgy is specifically for fiction writers, I can’t imagine that writers of any kind wouldn’t find the words moving. Here’s brief sample (you can read the entire liturgy at the link above):

Take these my small offerings.

Take and multiply them into a story that might stir or salve, 

that might shape or strengthen, that might name hidden wounds 

or secret hopes, that might open hearts to your mysteries. 

May your Holy Spirit meet me in the process of creation, 

for even as you called into being all things from nothing, 

so would I now step into the nothingness of an empty page, 

trusting that your Spirit might be manifest in this act of 

faith and stewardship.

Sometimes, we need other people to put into words what we know, but have never articulated ourselves and this liturgy, along with many others in Every Moment Holy does that in a beautiful and sacred way. 

There are liturgies for laundry days and for the preparation of a meal. Liturgies to read before taking the stage or after changing a diaper. Because really, every moment is holy, but far too often, we see these things as mundane…and I say this as someone who’s been changing diapers for over seventeen years…it’s hard to find the holy there…but it’s there! 

In light of our current circumstances, the liturgies for First Responders and Medical Providers are particularly poignant and I’ve also found myself drawn to the liturgies For the Death of a Dream, For Those Who Cannot Sleep, and For Those Flooded by Too Much Information. 

I enjoyed flipping through this beautiful volume (it really is gorgeous), reading and praying different liturgies at random, but last year when I was paralyzed by the fear that I was never going to be able to write another story (I know I’m not the only one who experiences this!) it was the Liturgy for Those Fearing Failure that I found myself reading and praying out loud, over and over again. In fact, it is this one that the red ribbon bookmark leads me to most often. 

Then let my fears of failure drive me,

Oh Lord, to collapse here upon your

strong shoulders, and here to rest,

reminded again that I and all of your 

children are always utterly dependent upon 

you to bring to completion, in and through 

us, the good works which you have prepared 

beforehand for us to do. It is not my own 

work that is before me now, but yours!

Indeed Christian, take heart in this revelation!

The outcomes of your labors were never in your

hands, but in God’s. You have but one task:

to be faithful.

I recently submitted what, Lord willing, will be my sixth published novel. For me, writing books is a profoundly sanctifying experience and I’m more convinced than ever of my deep need for the guidance and direction of the Creator.  Our words matter and it’s crucial that we write words of hope and peace for a world that desperately needs both. 

The liturgies in Every Moment Holy continue to draw me ever closer to the One who gives me both the desire and the ability to do what I do. I’m confident they will have the same effect on you. 

Grace and peace,

Lynn H. Blackburn believes in the power of stories, especially those that remind us that true love exists, a gift from the Truest Love.

She’s passionate about CrossFit, coffee, and chocolate (don’t make her choose) and experimenting with recipes that feed both body and soul. She lives in South Carolina with her true love, Brian, and their three children.

Her first book, Covert Justice, won the 2016 Selah Award for Mystery and Suspense and the 2016 Carol Award for Short Novel. Her second book, Hidden Legacy, released in June 2017 and her new Dive Team Investigations series kicks off in March of 2018 with Beneath the Surface.

You can follow her real life happily ever after at www.LynnHBlackburn.com and on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.