Friday, March 02, 2012

Anointed For One's Burial


"She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying." Mark 14:8



Okay, so this verse is on my mind today because I listened to a sermon by Esther Ibanga called "anointed for my burial." I


And it connected to me because it really made me think of taking up my cross, dying to self, crucifying the world to my heart, the fear of man. Much It has to do with my WIP, The Constant Tower. I find that I'm engaging in a kind of self-repression. It's as if I'm afraid to go through the same walk I went through with Wind Follower...so anything that's religious in CT is being squelched. (Yeah, I know...Wind Follower got published by a traditional and respected publisher and got some great critical reviews and nominations...and ...even Publishers Weekly liked it. But there were those two nasty reviewers I have yet to forgive. And the journey of submitting a flaky novel is scarily faithy.) Honestly, whenever my characters say something vaguely religious I cringe. I'm like... PLEASE DO NOT SAY THAT! WHY ARE YOU MAKING THIS BOOK ABOUT RELIGION?


And so I'm kinda not allowing the story to come out the way it should. Heck, I'm even looking back at My Life as an Onion and saying, "Oh, gee! Why did I include the religious thing in that book?"


I so wish -- really, i do-- that I were more typical and less weird. The sad, sad, sad truth is that I am quite odd. Oh, okay, normal folks always say how odd they are...and that they have idiosyncracies.  But honestly, they're not that odd. Or maybe their oddness is on a scale of acceptability that mine can never really make. So I'm always terribly afraid to let all that concerns me be in my novel. And yet, there's this weird part of me that puts it into my novels anyway. 


So, Onion is a black christian YA book but it's not a typical black christian YA book. The character is plainly Christian but frank sexual discussions abound. The character is black and race is a big part of the story but not really. And the characters are super-educated. And now I wait to hear what Delacorte will say. I'm hoping they see how good it is. But wow! what if they don't want it? Would I be willing to remove the quirkiness and the frank sexual discussions and tone it down for a Christian publishing company? What would I do with it? Although weirdly, I'm not too afraid Onion won't find a home. What with all those godwinks, I think God has told me He's aware of it and will get it published. But how can I write CT without any of those godwinks? Can I truly walk in faith when I don't have a godwink guiding me along?


Anyway, in Esther Ibanga's sermon, she basically talks about the woman with the alabastar jar anointing Jesus and after that all hell broke loose in the form of Judas' betrayal, the disciples fleeing, the religious people turning on him, to solitary suffering in the garden. She says, "Lots of ministers want the anointing to pray powerfully, to do all sorts of great things, but do they want the anointing for their burial? 


So now I'm thinking...am I willing to be "anointed for our burial?" Could I be anointed to go into the wilderness? To go through a fire? I sooo hate any kind of judgment or snideness from my peers. I HATE rejection. There are kinds of Christianity that are somewhat safe. For instance, the world isn't gonna get into a fight with an Episcopalian -- we American Episcopalians can be pretty trendy and easy-going about stuff like homosexuality, etc. Then there is a Biblical Christianity that is safe for other Biblical Christians: if one goes around being cookie-cutter, conservative, "normal," "happy," and "thorns in the flesh," cake-bakes, prosperity and doesn't talk about stuff like too much about extreme stuff like deliverance, the evils of the conservatives as well as the progressives, the evils of American imperialism, healing the sick, raising the dead, not loving the world or the things in it, etc...


Also thinking -- cause I have a morbid streak-- if God were to tell me I was to die...would he anoint me in a way that enables me to accept it and go through the valley of the shadow of death normally.


As a Christian writer, I guess there is a kind of anointing that can come. But if one is a Christian writer --or even a regular person-- who wants to speak of certain unsafe things.... that anointing is definitely necessary. 


 "Father God, let me do what I need to do so I can be who you want me to be so I can write the stories you want me to write. Remove from me the fear of man and let me be anointed for dying to self and to this world. I ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen." 

3 comments:

J. M. Butler said...

Hey Carole,

You're right, you tend to be morbid. ;-) But honestly, I think you just need to be yourself. It doesn't matter what Delacorte says or any of the other publishers. There's a publishing house for Onion, even if it takes creating one. And I don't think that you're going to die to write the book either. :-)

However, the annointing for burial is interesting to me. Perhaps that is accurate in another manner. I thought it was going to be a dying to self and fear. That I could see happening, and I can see you as finding new life through that death. The old fear must be put to death, and I see that as a work in process in your stories, all of them.

Your stories really are beautiful in their own unique way. Don't let them lose that beauty. Stay true to where you feel God is leading you and know that you are reaching a specific group of readers. You're not the kind of writer who should be watered down.

Carole McDonnell said...

Wow, Jessica! God is sooo sweet! And soooo funny!

I was cleaning in the kitchen then suddenly went to see what was on TV. Flipped through the channels a while then landed on Fox News. Watched for a couple seconds then heard a clip from the Blues Brothers. (Hadn't thought of the blues brothers in a while but hubby had a dream about flip flop yesterday...so in two days, right?) Anyways, there they are: One says, "Me and God we have an understanding." And the other says, "We're on a mission from God."

It was like God saying, "Carole, write that book, please!" Made me laugh. And hubby just thinks it's so weird me having all these reassuring godwinks. Am glad God is merciful to me and gives me all these reassuring smiles. Love you. And God too as well. ;-)
-C

Sis. Stacy said...

Hello Sis. Carole,
I was blessed by your blog site and identify as I am a Christian and writer as well.

As I saw your title, I instantly thought of Pastor Esther. I heard her speak that message and I don't think there was a sound in the congregation except tear sniffles and a few chuckles at times. I have prayed some difficult prayers in that there is no other reason for me but to live for Christ and walk with him. With that brings the cross. Isn't it funny that most of Jesus' trials were in Jerusalem amongst his own? I keep Pastor's message handy through the various seasons of life because it is a keeper. God is so faithful to keep us through the fires of oppression even when we think we are burning and leaving clouds of fire everywhere, he manifest the aroma of frankincense and myrrh, those precious spices reserved for burial to the world. I too am a peculiar creature who lives at Gethsemane more than the mountaintop, no cookie cutter mold for me. Keep writing for the King and glorifying him in all you do. We were created by His divine design. Blessings. Stacy

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