by Sandy Kirby Quandt @SandyKQuandt

Lately, I’ve thought about something Sir Isaac Newton discovered in the 1600s. An action comes before a reaction.

If we expect the automatic door at the store to open, we have to step forward and activate the mechanism which opens the door. Staring at the door won’t open it. Wishing it would open won’t grant me admission. Hoping it will open? Nope. Waiting for someone else to activate the open sesame apparatus could take forever. We must take action before we see a reaction. 

The same could be said about our writing. We may want to write. We may want to get better at the craft. We may want our writing read by others. But in all these things, if we do not take the necessary steps to activate the mechanism which opens the writing door, we’ll be left outside. We must take action before we see a reaction.

In the movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indie’s father is dying. The only thing that will save him is water brought back to him in the Holy Grail. Following directions written in an ancient book, Indie rushes off to find the Grail. The directions lead Indie to a vast opening. Below the opening is a very deep gorge with no seeming way across. Indie looks at the ancient book again and reads, Only a leap from the lion’s head will prove his worth. It’s a leap of faith. You must believe.

When Indie makes the first move, when he acts and steps out into the nothingness before him in faith, a previously unseen bridge across the gorge appears. Indiana Jones makes it safely to the other side. Before he could cross, however, he had to be willing to take that leap of faith. Because he took action, he saw a reaction.

So I’m thinking. As writers, if we want to make it across the writing gorge, it’s up to us to make the first move, step out in faith, and depend on God to provide a way across. We have to take that leap of faith. The writing path is not a one size fits all. Some of our writing is meant just between God and us. Some of our writing is meant to be shared with others. Either way, it requires action on our part before a reaction happens.

I doubt many of us will be called upon to take a leap from the lion’s head to prove our worth as Indie did, but I do believe when we pick up a pencil and put words to paper, or fingers to keyboard, our leap of faith is just as necessary. And many times, just as scary. 

Sandy Kirby Quandt is a former elementary school educator and full-time writer with a passion for God, history, and travel; passions that often weave their way into her stories and articles. She has written numerous articles, devotions, and stories for adult and children publications. Her devotions appear in two Worthy Publishing compilation books; So God Made a Dog, and Let the Earth Rejoice. She has won several awards for writing including the 85th and 86th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition in the Young Adult category, First Place in the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference Children’s Literature 2016 Foundation Awards, First Place in the 2017 Foundation Awards in the Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Flash Fiction categories. Looking for words of encouragement or gluten-free recipes? Then check out Sandy’s blog, Woven and Spun.