Author – Marilyn R. Gardner

The subway was late. People came through turnstiles crowding to the platform, anxiously looking at their iPhones, androids, and occasionally – their watches.

And then we found out why. There was police action at Broadway, a stop further down on the subway line.

But before we found out, there were mutters and murmurs, irritated glances and impatient shaking of heads. If we had authored our mornings, none of us would have put in “Police action at Broadway”.

“You are the author of your own life” is a quote often used to inspire and motivate. I get it. It says “Don’t just sit around, make life happen! If you don’t like the direction of your life, you can change it”. And many of those things are true….to a point.

But then into your life comes an unauthorized interruption. It’s the “Police action at Broadway” interruption and there is nothing you can do. You don’t control the pen or the paper, the words or the writing. There’s a bigger picture at play here.

How many of us would write sickness into our lives? How many of us would write a broken engagement? How many of us would pen an abusive marriage, a violent death, a car accident, the painful illness of a child into our story, the feeling of being other? None of us would – yet all that pain is written into life as we know it. Life in a world that’s broken.

And into the broken story of life comes a redemptive editor.

If I am, as the quote says, the author of my life, then surely I want God as the redemptive editor – the editor that comes in with red ink and gently but insistently crosses out, changes, discards, suggests, and improves the story. The redemptive editor knows that the bones of the book may be good, but it could be so much better; the author is capable of so much more.

It’s the editor that refines until the book is ready. It’s the editor that takes the “Police action at Broadway” moments and redeems them, at a great cost.

Despite the police action at Broadway, things got moving; the system has men and women assigned to make sure emergencies are acted on and despite a slow recovery, we were on our way. But not without a hard look at my reaction to the police action on Broadway.

Have you had any recent “Police action at Broadway” moments? Those interruptions that you would never author, moments that you need to know can be redeemed?

There are those days when I feel like a footnote; a mere reference in the essay of life. I sit on page 50 in 8 point Times New Roman font, footnote #7 properly cited in APA format. In my worst case scenario I’m not even the full citation – I am merely an “Ibid et al”. Depressing much?

On those days I imagine someone almost missing me and then suddenly realizing I’m there and saying “So…What’s it like to be a footnote?” before quickly moving on to the important stuff.

Yet in a good research paper or essay, footnotes and references cannot be underestimated – they are critical to making a paper credible and authentic. If you don’t reference properly you get a poor grade, it’s that simple, it’s that important.

A good author searches hard to find the right reference, the unique one that will lend credibility to the essay and give them the backing needed to move on. Ask anyone who has done a dissertation and they will tell you of the days they were stuck, paralyzed as it were, until they found the perfect reference, the perfect footnote.

And God is the author who put in this footnote. He searched out this footnote until he found it and placed it right where it belonged. To him this footnote is infinitely loved, of immeasurable importance, of unimaginable worth. And he never grows tired of writing this essay, writing the narrative of life, of giving us creative ways to articulate his truth.

So I don’t know if you feel like a footnote or an important chapter – either way, know that you are part of the Author’s Pulitzer Prize winning book of life.

“God surely must love the minor characters, having made so many of them!” (courtesy of Dr. Daniel Brown, source unidentified)

CAB Readers – Thank you! We did it! Made it to over 100,000 views yesterday since I began writing in January 2011. When I began this project as a way to find my voice I didn’t dare hope that people would be as affirming and supportive as they are! Thank you! Stay tuned for more on a celebration inviting you to share your stories! Also – if you like the content, invite others to join in!

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