Time for a dust off

 Let's get this going.

My wife gave me the suggestion a few days ago that it was time for me to start writing again. Now that we are fully engaged in retirement from our previous profession of some 44 years, its time to begin recording new thoughts, ideas and moments of inspiration.

I used to write a weekly column for the Sunday bulletins of the four churches we pastored. It was called "Parson to Person."  In case you have never heard of the phrase before here is a simple definition:  the term is old-fashioned, informal, or sometimes humorous, and can refer broadly to any Protestant minister or local pastor

Usually in less than 100 words I would write observations of my week with a spiritual connection. Sometimes it would be a thing that happened to our family or myself. It could be in conjunction with a new item or some world event. At times it was tied to the sermon I would be preaching that day. Tag on a scripture application, I probably have well over 250 of these written. But I have never put them in any organized manner.

You have to remember that I started my ministry work before personal computers. Word processors were just coming on to the scene and were very expensive and beyond my budget. But I  happen to have most of these writings in hard copy form today. I write my sermons in narrative form and collect them. I have a simple paper filing system that was given to me some 40 years ago. I am going to go thru these past writings, edit them and bring them to life within this blog. 

I thought about what Cindy said and I am going to give it a go. I have enjoyed writing over the years. I have written a book "Rest - for the rest of us".  You can find it on Kindle. I have have several published articles and was a contributing columnist to the Salvation Army's US national magazine - the War Cry. I eventually went on to be the editor of that magazine for two years from 2019 to 2021.  I am horrible grammar and often use a lot of redundancy in my raw writings. Fortunately I married an actual editor. And my oldest daughter is an English major with excellent written skills. They are my go to for proof reading and correction. 

I have a lot of thoughts bouncing around in my head even today on all sorts of topics. From DIY ideas, model trains, nature, theater, gaming as well as what is going on in the church today. I have given some thought about writing a play and even begin writing my own stand up clean comedy material and try it out at local open mics. 

I now can write freely. These words would be my words. Not associated with my church affiliation. It comes with my own bias and world view.

I was hoping in retirement to stay connected more closely with the inner theological circles of my denomination. That door closed on me July 1. I was looking forward to writing on a national book project as well. That door shut hard as well. So now, I am a freelance writer, not looking for monetary gain but I know I need a focused, creative writing outlet that I control.

I am keeping all of my previous written content uploaded here in place. You will see some gap years in the archives. Hopefully you can find some inspiration there.

So its time for a dust off. Blowing the cobwebs out and getting the words flowing again. Hopefully on a more regular basis. 

Enjoy

Best

T

copyright 9-2-26  Tim Foley