Fruchtbar Augenblick

Good evening! I hope this finds you well and enjoying a season of thanksgiving for all the precious people in your life. I appreciate everyone God has placed in mine!

I heard two words from a radio program that I hope sprout into full bloom in my life as a writer and woman. "Fruchtbar Augenblick." Sound like something Dr. R.C. Sproul may say, huh? Well he did and those words translated into English are "Fruitful Moment."

The painting is Rembrandt's "Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem." Meditate on the picture for just a moment and you can almost feel his pain. You know where he is and the consequences that are just around the corner for Jerusalem. The painter brings us into this fruchtbar augenblick. The reason I use the German for the phrase is that when Rembrandt painted this, the habit of a painter grabbing the "moment" was in vogue. And, he did this very well. Day after day he would immerse himself in the Scriptures. He sketched scene after scene after scene until the single moment that told the story arrived.

If you're a writer, how do you do this? How do you freeze that pane? Though we have story climaxes, special still moments can be found everywhere. They may be turning points in your book or a time when your protagonist must make the decision that weighs so heavily on her heart. Possibly the hand of a man on his wife's bed gripping the sheet as he releases her into eternity? Whatever that moment is, we can write it with abundant fruit We can write it so the heart of the reader grows and overflows to others. But, it takes time and time and time. Edits. Rewrites. More edits. More rewrites.

How about those fruchtbar augenblicks from a woman's perspective? Do we take opportunities that are teaching moments for our children and make them abundant? (I know I have missed some of those.)

And still yet, there is the whole life thing--the fruchtbar augenblick of life. I don't know about you, but I have, in my mind, a still moment. A life-changing moment. All the sketches of my life came together. Crinkled newspapers with old stories~~burnt and black as coal. Embers sizzle and only a few words from the stories peek through the charcoal. No fruit in this moment~~just death. The next moment was fruitful and continues on. I remember standing and leaning toward the large picture window. The sky shone bluer than ever and the grass?~~who added all the shades of green?! Scales you say? They fell from my eyes. And, I could see. I could finally see! Do you have a moment like this in your life?

Ok, back to the writers....we are created in the image of the One who created time and holds all fruchtbar augenblicks. Let's go out there and write, write, and write some more!

Till next time,

~~Jackie