Can you tell what the above photo is? Sometimes we can be too close to really get a clear perspective. (thanks to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo for the photo)
In 1939, when John Steinbeck finished his classic, “The Grapes of Wrath,” he sent it off to his publisher with a short note that said, “It’s just a run of the mill book, and the awful thing is that it is absolutely the best I can do.” He warned his publisher that it wouldn’t be very popular.
Wait. Are you kidding?
The Grapes of Wrath.
Yeah, the same Grapes of Wrath that won The National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. And the novel was mentioned prominently when Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in 1962.
Run of the mill? My writing should be so average!
The fact is that in the same way we often don’t see our own beauty, we’re not usually the best judge of our own talent or skill. We’re too close and don’t have the perspective to see. That’s why we need those others in our lives who can see us from their vantage point; to see the bigger picture.
So…here’s the outside perspective: You are created with wonder and purpose. Don’t listen to the lie of the enemy that tells you otherwise.
(by the way…the photo above is of a raven!)
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