Young Leadership

I have an urge to write a book. I feel like, if given the chance, I will be able to let words flow from my fingers that might possibly have the opportunity to convey meaning to other people. I have, as I ponder, had a lot of experience with this. I have wrote papers over my college career, it seems almost everyday. I have wrote and edited paper of several others. I find myself wondering often if people think like I do sometimes. I think, i find, in literature. As I think, if I think something that is grammatically incorrect, for some reason I correct myself, in my mind. Many times I will act as though I am writing a book with my thoughts, imagining if this would be accepted by some imaginary reader that could read my thoughts like an open book. I am no expert in the ways of the mind's thinking, but I feel like if I could possibly train myself to begin to express these thoughts in the form of writing, nothing but good could come of it. Unless, that is, that I choose to run for political office and these writings are found and shared with the general public. Perhaps things like my desire to run for office as a Libertarian, because my views are such, but knowing that I would never win, so I would absolutely run as a Republican, even though I think the ideology is at times, anti the ways of Christ, as are many of the Democratic ways. This would surely isolate my possible constituents. But perhaps, through the training of myself in the method of writing, I might end up catching myself being able to express some idea in a way that might even surprise me. So I feel like this can be a good thing, and since I am not positive about how to exactly write a book, I feel like possibly the best place to start is by just getting thoughts onto paper; or screen as it would be. So the intent of these next posts is to truly be a draft journal. I will practice my free thought writing and will simply allow myself to try to articulate what knowledge I have about some subject that I might try and write about.

That, in itself, is a difficult item. I was talking to my brother earlier this evening about this very idea. What qualifies someone to be able to write about anything? Is it that they perhaps are an expert in a given area? And if this is so, what exactly does it take to be an expert? Is it the amount of proper education one has? Perhaps if I had a PhD in some field, I would then be able to write about it with complete authority, and because of that authority, people would have no choice, if they wanted to know about that subject, but to read my thoughts. But then again, in order to even receive a PhD one must write a dissertation, which in many cases is much longer than a book needs to be. And in order for individuals to write a dissertation they must only need to have a master's degree or its equivalence. So, then the question is up in the air again. What does it take on behalf of the author to write about something. My brother is under the impression, even though these are not his exact words, that one must experience something to be able to write about it. But once again we find that this is only another method of getting to the idea that one must have authority in a certain subject to be able to say anything important about it. Is this so? I am not convinced. Yet, I do feel like some books that I have read that have left me with the feeling that I have gained something important from that particular reading have not come from authors who are experts in that particular area. For example, one of the most moving books I have ever read, and this piece of literature, in my mind, competes with anything that has ever come from the hand of Shakespeare is the book "Tuesdays with Morrie." In which really one learns how to live from a man that is dying. Much like that one book that I have read in the past in which the book actually came from a lecture that a college professor gave to a group of students about how to live one's life right after being told that he had only months to live. So perhaps, one must be transitioning out of something to be able to comment on an area that contains meaning. Like these two men commented on earthly life as they were about to depart from it. Is it the expertise or the experience. Or perhaps a mixture of both. Or even then, is it perhaps something else? Possibly something greater? Or maybe even simpler? As I sit here and contemplate even this I am surprising myself with some of the answers that are popping into my head. I remember watching the movie "Philadelphia" starring Tom Hanks in which he also won best actor for, and then that night having to write a story for a composition class. The idea was on my mind, and I was heartbroken for those having to face the disease of HIV and AIDS, so I wrote a story about a girl finding out that she had AIDS and how she handled trying to confront her parents. I remember when the teacher, whose name I have forgotten, gave back the papers, she told me I should become a writer, and how with that feeling and encouragement, for the first time, I fell in love with writing. So is it passion for something? A passion for a particular area in which to write? I feel like this cuts deeper to the answer that I am looking for. I worked at a fast food restaurant for years, and was absolutely an expert in order taking, but I never felt the urge to write about it, or that that would even ever be a possibility. But perhaps with a passion about something, one finds the desire to write about something. Not just an ordinary passion, but a passion that leads one to learn everything that can be known about the subject, then possibly experience a little for themselves, and then that passions leads them to try and contribute a mixture of expertise, experience, and passion to the subject. That's it. It is a combination of all three. So that's the quest. In what area, or what thing, do I posses all three for? When I find that I find my book.

I am young. 24. But aging quicker than I could have ever thought. It is easy now to see my life reaching old age. A decade ago at 14, the idea of even reaching 21, seemed so far away to me. But know, the idea of becoming a senior citizen seems like it could come tomorrow. I am not sure why, but the idea of it is not fear inducing, rather it poses a challenge to me. A challenge that I am to make the most of the life given to me, and the challenge of only having so much time to do it in. That's the game of life. That we are to do something with our lives. That part is easy. The part about only having so much time to do it in is the hard part. If we all lived for 500 years we could all afford to make huge mistakes in our lives. But with the time frame less than a decade, some mistakes could cripple the purpose we have. So, again, I am young. What am I an expert at, have experience in, and also passionate about. I have to start with young. Because whatever I write about, I know that the experience part will only fit younger people. because there are plenty of books about things that I have experience at and am somewhat educated about. But perhaps my age could play into this. I became a manager at the fast food restaurant at a very young age. I went into ministry at a very young age. I became a lead pastor at a very young age. These three experiences all have one major thing in common. I had to convince people that my age would not reflect my performance. I had to convince people that they were hiring a person that could handle that job as well as a family man in his 40's. That is what separates me. I had to convince a church that me at 21 years old, without any theological training, had the ability to lead them spiritually through whatever lied ahead of them. I have done that. I have created positive change. God has grown the ministry in many ways. By all accounts, if I were to leave the church today, I would feel like I have been a successful pastor. experience- yes, passion- absolutely, expertise- lacking, but present. If I am to write about something that will have any lasting meaning at all, it must be about this... So now to preparation.