Editing Epistles

2nd Cor 3:2

You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone

It has been a rough week here in the U.S. I am pretty sure that there is nothing new under the sun but social media is making it burn more. Stupidity erupts like solar flares. Rays of anger inflame and heated tempers explode.We all need to simmer down and remember that none are righteous, no not one. Whites. Blacks. Cops. Etc. 

The less we confess our own failings, foibles, and sin, the more garbage we're going to drag out into the public square. I was painting down in Philly in the mid-80's during the month long sanitation workers' strike. Two stories of garbage bags rotting in the summer sun is not a pleasant sensory experience. Social media has rapidly become the piling up of rotting garbage bag posts. A little humility goes a long way in dispensing trash properly.  

It is quite the case that humanity is in the process of learning the do's and dont's about social media. It has been less than a century since most humans even ever left their home and community. Now. we can post something and someone from Karachi can tell us to "shove it" three seconds later. Not progress in my book.

The positives of all of the technology is that it is making it possible for upstart writers like me to make contact with publications and pitch ideas. Armed with my iPhone I can pitch major media outlets from my duchy of Molumbia. We have flattened out communication hierarchies and the gates are more open than ever before.

Another cool aspect of technology that I have come to appreciate are the collaborative tools in editing documents. In the three pieces I will publish professionally this summer, two of the essays profited greatly from the in-depth editorial skills of those working for the publications. The other essay I wrote, didn't elicit much editorial feedback but I did work on it for several weeks so perhaps it was cleaner. The other two are for publications with a lot more reach and audience. So, that has played a role in the greater degree of editing.  

My writing style tends to be to read a great deal about a topic, assimilate the information into a coherent story structure, then try to express myself with some creativity and humor. I have a decided advantage compared to others because of earning a Ph.D. My capacity to absorb and assimilate information was irrevocably expanded in the eight year doctoral process. Like literary stretch marks. 

The feedback from the others, who do editing for a living, has been great to experience using the group editing functions both in Google and Word. I typically accept most of the editing suggestions and maybe improve upon an insight that the editors offer, or where they know that there is a problem but are not sure what to do about it. It is fun to see a piece change and improve in the process. I am typically very open and non-defensive when the editorial process does its thing. We share a common goal to make the essay work. 

It would be helpful for us to see God as a sort of omniscient editor who interacts with the essays of our lives. He wants to cut out some sentences, add other ideas, and make our individual existence both useful and beautiful to others. Living epistles as Paul calls us. Seeing God's working in me like editing an essay is helping me understand sanctification in a better way. It makes it less abstract and more practical.   

"The eye of the world takes in more than the ear. Christians' lives are the only religious books the world reads. Ignatius [Epistle to the Ephesians, 10] writes, "Give unbelievers the chance of believing through you. Consider yourselves employed by God; your lives the form of language in which He addresses them. Be mild when they are angry, humble when they are haughty; to their blasphemy oppose prayer without ceasing; to their inconsistency, a steadfast adherence to your faith." 

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary