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I found a mere handful of scenes portraying God as a writer. Taken together, they provide a progression toward grace, and, significantly, they involve each member of the Trinity. Three of the media—stone tablets, a plaster wall, and sand in the temple courts—did not survive the ravages of history. Instead, God's literature gets passed down generation by generation in transformed lives. "For we are God's [work of art]," Paul told the Ephesians (2:10), using the Greek word poiema, from which we get "poem."

After surveying scenes of God writing, I no longer felt so burdened. Composing words on paper is one thing; creating sacred works of art out of human beings is quite another.

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Yancey's previous columns include:

It's Not About the Crusades | The clash with Islam is over new global realities. (July 19, 2007)

Not What It Seems | A bird's-eye view of contemporary evangelicalism. (February 28, 2007)

A Tale of Five Herods | If you had five minutes with the President, what would you say? (December 28, 2006)

Middle East Morass | Learning to regard people in light of what they suffer. (November 20, 2006)

Grappling with God | Prayer sometimes feels like a hug and a stranglehold at the same time. (October 20, 2006)

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September 2007, Vol. 51, No. 9