NO DIMINISHED RETURNS

It makes me sad to walk into a bookstore and see the Bargain Book table. There, for $2.00 to $5.00, are the results of someone’s time and life energy that at one time sold for regular price. Diminishing returns to be sure. I have always wanted to write a book and see it displayed on the “Just Arrived” shelf, there in big, bold print for someone to buy and hopefully appreciate my time and energy to say something important and meaningful to them. But I wonder if that is still my dream when I see the Bargain Book table.

You will not find my book on either the Just Arrived shelf or the Bargain Book table. You will find my book in my storage unit, safely packed away in boxes to be completed at another time. My dream world of being a writer was safely packed away in my mind as I participated in the real life that most of us live in; a life busy with responsibilities and duties that living in these times seem to drag us into. Family, home and work aren’t necessarily bad things but they often take precedence over our dreams of the life we’d rather be living.

The thing that always intruded and took over my illusive life as a writer was my work and my ministry. My work had always been with people, either as a camp director, a teacher, a counselor, or a church leader. Working with souls of others takes all the time and energy one has. There is very little space left for the great book to be written.

But then I reflect on those people who intruded in on my writing time and absorbed all my creative energy. One is a psychologist helping people become whole. One is a college professor who is enhancing the minds of business students who will be a positive power in the future world I live in. Several are environmental scientists working hard to help us survive on this earth and sustaining that survival for generations to come. A couple are ministers in the church truly working with the souls of the people in their care. There are a few lawyers, a camp director and yes, even a writer or two.

This expenditure of my time and life energy will not end up on any Bargain Book table. No diminishing returns here. Just full blooming trees and fruits developed from seeds that I have knowingly and unknowingly sown over the many years of my life. It seems that all books eventually end up on Bargain or For Free tables or on dusty bookshelves somewhere. But seeds grow into living, creative things that constantly contribute energy.

Someday I may walk into a bookstore and see my book on the Just Arrived shelf or even on the New York Times top ten list. But for now I’ll just enjoy the better world that is being made by those inspiring intrusions of mine.