Abridging: deprive of, dispossess of, limit, restrict, seize, strip, take away, usurp, wrest from. To condense while holding true to the content, without losing the sense.
I'm currently working on abridging one of my books. I have the opposite of writer’s block; I have the fear loss. I could more easily write 100 pages than I could abridge10 pages. But in looking at the two definitions of “abridging” I can choose to see it as a harsh “stripping, deprivation” or as a refining time where I “hold true to the content without losing the sense.” The second definition holds the view that the end product will have a more efficient impact. And after all, isn’t that what we are all after? To produce high-impact fruit? Jesus said in John 15:8, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.”
The global recession has created a suspended pause in our world…a valley of decision…a season of abridging. As humans, the loss or perceived loss of something is one of the most painful events we face (or attempt to escape). Let’s ask God for the discipline and the power to face our perceived losses and get on with healthy abridging. Let’s hold the view that abridging our lives can mean “holding true to the content without losing the sense.” Let’s believe that nothing is lost or wasted when we bring Jesus into the center of it all.
Adapted from the Coram Deo Secret
http://www.marisarickerson.com/coram-deo.html
I'm currently working on abridging one of my books. I have the opposite of writer’s block; I have the fear loss. I could more easily write 100 pages than I could abridge10 pages. But in looking at the two definitions of “abridging” I can choose to see it as a harsh “stripping, deprivation” or as a refining time where I “hold true to the content without losing the sense.” The second definition holds the view that the end product will have a more efficient impact. And after all, isn’t that what we are all after? To produce high-impact fruit? Jesus said in John 15:8, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.”
The global recession has created a suspended pause in our world…a valley of decision…a season of abridging. As humans, the loss or perceived loss of something is one of the most painful events we face (or attempt to escape). Let’s ask God for the discipline and the power to face our perceived losses and get on with healthy abridging. Let’s hold the view that abridging our lives can mean “holding true to the content without losing the sense.” Let’s believe that nothing is lost or wasted when we bring Jesus into the center of it all.
Adapted from the Coram Deo Secret
http://www.marisarickerson.com/coram-deo.html
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