Gold Nugget 143 - The Literary Man
The writer at his desk uses his magic fluid as an elixir vitae for ideas which would otherwise be still-born and be speedily buried in oblivion. By means of this potent agency he is able to give body and endurance to the fleeting fancies of the hour. The greatest truths are thus preserved and transmitted. … Civilization has grown up on the food of literature.
The sword destroys; the pen creates. When the work of the warrior is lost in the wreck of ages, the work of the writer still endures. The victories of Nebuchadnezzar have left not a showdown behind them; but the Psalms of David are more powerful to-day than when the sweet singer of Israel first chanted them to his shepherd’s harp. …
Bad literature is worse than the plague. In private life the pen may record scandal that had better have been forgotten; it may write spiteful words that will rankle the mind of the reader who peruses them long years after the heedless writer has forgotten that he ever committed the folly of putting them to paper. The power of the pen is a warning to the humblest writer to be aware of what he sets down. But there is a noble use of this power. …
All who have the gift or the vocation of writing are called to a career which should be one of help to their fellow-men. The literary man is tempted to be indolent and selfish, to dream his life away without coming into contact with the misery of his fellow-men, and without doing much to alleviate that misery. …
A writer is tempted to set down striking words, even if they should not be quite true, or though, perhaps, they should needlessly pain some fellow-man. Smartness if often cruel. Writing, like every other act of life, needs to be consecrated to Christ and executed for his glory.
The Pulpit Commentary, Ezekiel p.163-164, Ezekiel 9:2, (W. F. Adeney)
Gold Nugget 143
The Literary Man
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