In This Way: Consistent Innovation

“Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment^a of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their punishment. 5For I assign to you a number of days, 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment. So long shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel...And the LORD said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” ~ Ez 4:4,5,13

Observations:

• Symbolism allowed Ezekiel to act out truths that would have been difficult / dangerous to articulate.  
• Ezekiel's actions were points of obedience after prayer
• Ezekiel listened
• Ezekiel obeyed / lived it out
• They watched Ezekiel
• They lived out his prayer-based symbolism
• Days represented years 
• Ezekiel's body represented Israel and Judah
• Ezekiel's diet represented the future diet in captivity
• Short term symbols represented long term realities
• Ezekiel told difficult realities through his body
• Prayer to symbolism to countrywide occurrence is innovative

Applications:

• Writing / publishing is an innovative process
• Fiction uses representation / symbolism to act out difficult / inconvenient truths
• I have a prayer life
• I listen
• I write what I hear (fiction and nonfiction)
• A reader engages
• Readers hear, on the page, what I heard in prayer
• Prayer provides an eternal supply of content
• Some of what I hear in prayer may be published, like Ez 4

Prayer:

Why would I think there's nothing to write?  You are perpetually speaking and if I am quiet, I will hear You.  Hearing Your voice is in-spir[ing].  When inspired, don't writers write?  What an innovative hack of writer's block. You're a writer.  Thank You for revealing writing as a form of godliness.