One thing I enjoy this time of year is watching the Christmas specials like “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.” One of my friends recently reminded me of a line that guardian angel Clarence tells George toward the end of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Clarence says, “Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”
We as writers can get easily discouraged. An e-newsletter I receive from American Christian Writers noted that writing is a profession with a 99 percent rejection rate. Ouch.
By nature, we want to succeed. As writers, we want to make a difference. However, many times, we simply can’t know what impact our writing is making in other people’s lives.
I like what Helen Keller said. Though she was not talking about writing, I can see an application for writers. She said, “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.”
That reminds me very much of something Jesus told his disciples in Luke 16:10. He said, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.”
As Clarence told George, we may never know what an “awful hole” we would leave if we weren’t around. We may not be able to see the impact of our writing, but we can trust that at least in some small way, our writing is touching someone’s life. So press on.
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