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Potent Art

July 9, 2018 by James D. Witmer 6 Comments

It’s harder to write a meaningful radio song than a thoughtful album; when you have only three minutes to make your point, it’s easier to be catchy than deep.

It can be harder to write a short story than a novel; you need to accomplish the same things – character development, rising conflict, resolution – in less than 1% of the space.

It is unlikely that you will change someone’s mind in a single argument, no matter how brilliant and beautiful your rhetoric; so debates often come in sets of three.

In the ordinary course of things, the longer you have with your audience, the more likely you are to leave them with something meaningful. Time and repetition are an artist’s friend.

And then there is parenting: Eighteen years to love, to communicate, to share beauty, to try, and go back and try again – and again, and again. It’s a phenomenally potent art. Not despite all the time it takes, but because of it.

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James D. Witmer
James D. Witmer
With a heart for writing about adventure, small woodland creatures, and what happens when you realize there are no ordinary places, James is the author of A Year in the Big Old Garden, a short story collection for children 4-10.

He occasionally blogs at jamesdwitmer.com or @jamesdwitmer, spends his free time digging in the garden with his wife, and is pleasantly surprised to find that loving his family makes meaningful change in the world.
James D. Witmer
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Filed Under: Faith & Vision, Featured Article, Fostering Imagination

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Comments

  1. Loren Eaton says

    May 15, 2013 at 1:30 pm

    It’s a phenomenally potent art.

    True enough. And it’s all hard, but really worth it.

    Reply
  2. Peter B says

    May 20, 2013 at 11:03 am

    Bono’s line in Cedars of Lebanon keeps coming back to me:

    “The worst of us are a long, drawn-out confession; the best of us are geniuses of compression.”

    Sometimes this feels like a call to be still. So much of our efforts are striving after (or generating) wind, when really, a simple heart-response would do the most good.

    Reply
  3. Jean Mehochko says

    July 9, 2018 at 10:31 am

    LOVE this idea and the quote “The longer you have with your audience, the more likely you are to leave them with something meaningful.”

    Reply
    • James D. Witmer says

      July 13, 2018 at 4:53 pm

      Thanks, Jean! I’m very glad you found it helpful.

      Reply
  4. Isabel says

    July 13, 2018 at 1:50 pm

    God’s art is generally of this potent sort with us, His ‘masterpieces’. He spoke the first creation but He is so patient, repeating HImself often, fashioning the New. Your posts are always well worth reading and rereading.

    Reply
    • James D. Witmer says

      July 13, 2018 at 4:54 pm

      Yes! I love the idea that God’s patience goes beyond tolerance or even long-suffering to encompass an inefficient, relational, life-long act of craftsmanship.

      Reply

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