As a writer my greatest friend is also my most dire enemy. It is the blank piece of paper. Each and every time I write we come face to face. I stare at it and it stares back at me. At that awkward moment, as I move my hand to pick up my pen or position my fingers over the computer keyboard, I find myself filled with both fear and wonder.
The fear is the possibility that nothing will emerge from our confrontation, that my reservoir of thoughts, ideas, and stories has been depleted and my career as a writer at an end. On the other hand, the wonder lies in the knowledge that, if I am patient and persistent, I will be joyfully surprised by the words that flow from my mind to the paper. I have confidence that I will experience what Robert Frost called the “wonder of the unexpected supply”, and will again be reminded of the power, the promise, and the possibilities of the blank paper.
Just think with me for a moment of those possibilities.
In the hand of a passionate thinker a blank piece of paper becomes a Declaration of Independence, “War and Peace”, the Gettysburg Address, or a life changing sermon.
In the hands of a sensitive musician that blank piece of paper becomes Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, or Handel’s Messiah, or even Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday”.
In the hands of an imaginative architect that paper becomes the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, or Disney World.
In the hands of a visionary it can become the next great invention that shapes our world, or a formula for explaining the mysteries of our universe, or the blueprint for a cure for one of mankind’s deadly diseases.
In other hands it becomes a love letter read over and over again by a hopelessly romantic lover, a crayon filled picture hung with pride on a grandparent’s refrigerator, or a diary holding one’s deepest thoughts and secrets.
In the same way a writer faces daily the blank piece of paper, each one of us face another kind of blank page. It is the 24 hours, the 1440 minutes, the 86,400 seconds that God has given you today.
While you may not be a writer or musician or architect or inventor your blank paper is no less important. It holds just as much power, promise, and possibility as the greatest of people in human history. In each and every case their greatness began there.
If you desire to live with grace, purpose, and passion, you must understand that the blank piece of paper is both a gift and a responsibility. It is a gift because it is given you for your use and enjoyment. It is a responsibility because only you can create something from it. It will be what you make of it, no more and no less.
What will you do with your blank paper today? Will you fill it with words and deeds that will inspire, encourage, and comfort those around you? Will you fill it with a life that in some way makes your world, your community, and your neighborhood a better place to live?
Pick up that blank piece of paper and write your life well, knowing that you can make a difference in this world.