Why We Write

A novel in my library tells the story of a race of people, stolen from their homeland and enslaved in a foreign nation. Forced to serve their masters at an unattainable level of perfection, they are punished severely for the slightest misstep. Often, they are simply executed and replaced. Finding it terribly inconvenient to be reminded of the injustice they have foisted upon these people, their masters force them to lurk inside the walls of their opulent palaces, performing as much of their work as possible out of sight, emerging only when they can do so in secret. Indeed, the masters even train themselves and their children to overlook the slaves when they do happen to appear, so that they become invisible.

The relyimah, they call them; the “unseen.”

This story struck me when I read it and continues to do so. While I do not put myself on the same level as the masters in this story, the past few years have taught me there are many I overlook; there is much I do not see. For most of my life the women stolen from their homes and forced to work as prostitutes, the children abused by their parents or siblings, the sick battling deadly illness, they did not cross my mind. Even now, if I’m being honest with myself, I think of these people only occasionally. Most of the time I choose not to look because I want to worry about my life, my success, what I want.



Yet, these people are all magnificent and wonderful and brilliant. They deserve to be thought about; they deserve to be seen. They aren’t – after all – any less worthy because they don’t stand out to the eye.

So, to bring these people to my mind, I write. I write to help myself focus on someone other than myself. I write to see those who all too often I do not see. Don’t get me wrong – I hope I can help others do the same. But even if no one else ever reads a word, I will still write to help myself remember the relyimah.

And I don’t want it stop here, with simple words. As Donald Miller would say, I want to start writing a better story to live with my life. I want my mission – to seek justice and bring holistic reconciliation to the world by protecting the helpless, caring for needy, comforting the brokenhearted, and liberating the oppressed – to become reality. I want to spread the love of Christ to everyone I meet. I only hope I can really learn to do it.