“Action speaks louder than words, but not nearly as often.” -Mark Twain

Bullet points fragment thought, inviting scanning, not savoring the written word. A deep word well is available for readers and writers alike when returning to the tools of craftsmanship and reflection. Metaphor, active verbs, rhythm, and voice await the wordsmith. The Bible uses literary devices to convey complex ideas in a memorable fashion: Metaphors, allegory, parables, complex poetry and prose laced with speeches. I am learning to appreciate the metaphor in a new way. 

“If you remember only one thing I’ve said, remember that an idea is a feat of association, and the height of it is a good metaphor. If you have never made a good metaphor, then you don’t know what it’s all about.”

-Robert Frost 1874-1963 

Robert Frost considered metaphor to be central to poetry and even life itself. 

The Psalms are full of metaphors. Psalm 23:1 famously states, “ The LORD is my shepherd. Psalm 18:2, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress…”  Each metaphor provides a truth to ponder about who God is. In his teaching, Jesus used them too: “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). 

Linguistic devices help form the foundation of communication through language, even if the subject matter is not literary: Rhythm, rhyme, meter, and syntax. 

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Prayer:

Be My All

“Be thou the well by which I lie and rest;

Be thou my tree of life, my garden ground;

Be thou my home, my fire, my chamber blest,

My book of wisdom, loved of all the best;

Oh, be my friend, each day still newer found,

As the eternal days and nights go round!

Nay, nay—thou art my God, in whom all loves are bound!”

-Written by George MacDonald (1824–1905), Scottish preacher, poet, essayist. While in his fifties, MacDonald published A Book of Strife in the Form of the Diary of an Old Soul (1880), a collection of 366 short, original, untitled devotional poems, one for each day of the year. Addressed to God, these poems voice discouragement, weariness, restlessness, desire, doubt, and trust. When the book was printed privately in 1880, all the left-hand pages were left blank to encourage thoughtful reader responses. MacDonald wrote in the dedication, “Let your white page be ground, my print be seed,”

 George MacDonald, whom C.S. Lewis claimed as his mentor, said, “I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him.”