Writing Exercise 1

“Sometimes, even now, I have no idea why He chose me. You read all of my work?”

“Yes, I am happy to say, especially since I have this chance to talk with you, that I have read it many times. In fact, I have spent hours studying your books.”

 “That is still so strange to me, to think of my work being studied by so many people.”

“Yes, millions of people, well actually it would be more accurate to say billions.”

“Yes. Yes. So strange. Even when I was faced with my first supernatural event, I still tried to talk Him out of choosing me. In my eyes I was not good enough to be a leader, especially for so great a people as His. I am just not good with words, my tongue gets tied and nothing comes out the way my mind wants it to. At the time, speaking in front of a large group and debating over something as important as people’s lives brought such a fear in my heart. Thankfully He sent my brother to help me. What did you think when you read that part of the story? The part where I asked Him to choose someone else?”

“Oddly enough the fact that you have that as a weakness, but still accomplished so much, is encouraging to the rest of us. Me especially. I often have trouble with words; I find writing is much easier than trying to get my thoughts out loud. I think that is why I am so glad I am able to talk with you. You obviously are a great writer, having written such a large portion of the book.”

            “Sometimes I was not sure who was writing, me or Him. I believe part of why I was honored to write so much of the history was the amount of time I spent with Him. You read the story, the people had a chance to draw near to Him on the mountain, but their fear held them back.”

            “That is the part that is hard for me to understand. I just don’t see how the Israeli people could have witnessed such great signs in Egypt, watched the Red Sea part, and yet still turned away from the One who did it all. I think you must have been the most patient man in history. I think I would have given up on them at the first opportunity.”

“I would have if He had not been there with me. I think He must have known my heart way before I had any ability to lead.”

“And I often grow impatient leading even small groups of five to ten people. But I hope to get better. At both my leadership abilities as well as my writing skills How were you able to remember all that you wrote about?”

“A man cannot help but remember the words that God speaks to him. But I also would say to write often, and then write some more. Keep track of everything. My culture had a very strong verbal history, if you tell the story frequently it will become engrained inside of you.”

“I have so many stories inside of my head.

“If I were to give any advice to you about writing and leading I would say this: to become a great leader, you must go to the Source of all leadership, to become a great writer you must go to the Source of all words. Remember this and I think you will do just fine, whether you become tongue-tied or not. A good leader is not based on words but on actions.”

            “Thanks, I will remember that…”

            “So, you must know, what happened after Deuteronomy? After I left off?”

            “Well, someone else wrote about your death. Unless God told you what was going to happen and you wrote it. But, since you are shaking your head, I will tell how Deuteronomy lets off and what I can remember about Joshua…”