By Nathan D. Wilson
The Reverend Jon McCauley Smith, pastor of First Christian in Palo Alto, CA, earned tenth place in the inspirational category of the 78th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition. His winning short story, "Aharon’s Father," is based on Mark 9:2-32.
Smith, a former English teacher who taught creative writing, recently took time to discuss his love for the life-shaping power of the written word.
What is your current occupation?
I am the pastor at the First Christian Church in Palo Alto, California
What or who compelled you to write "Aharon’s Father?"
A pastor’s life is a whole lot more than just "one hour a week in the pulpit." Perhaps the busiest times of all are around the holidays. Just like everyone else, a pastor needs some "off time" to get centered. For me, writing is a way to enter an oasis of shalom.
As I read the scripture about the Mount of Transfiguration, I was drawn to the character of the father and son. Our oldest son is autistic, and we have struggled with giving a normal life to our other three children, having time to be a couple, and surrounding our son with the experiences and opportunities to develop to his fullest potential. I could sense the father’s hope in approaching the disciples to heal his son… his feelings when they could not… and his conviction and love to wait the night for Jesus to come down the mountain to be the first to ask for help. And when the crowd at the bottom of that mountain seemed to dismiss the father and son as unworthy of Jesus’ time, I could feel the shame and the disappointment and even the sense of unbelief rise up in the father.
I wrote "Aharon’s Father" from the point of view of the father and son. I wanted to fill them with the emotions and strengths that I had learned from loving my special son. I also wanted to underscore the reaction of Jesus which included a new longing to be reunited with the Father he loved, for it put the path to Holy Week in a new perspective for me.
What, in your opinion, makes for a successful inspirational article?
To be inspirational, an article must reveal truth that has been covered by the ordinary-ness of life. Miracles abound all around us, but sometimes it takes someone or something to help us recognize the wonder of them. God’s presence is always with us and His plan is forever being accomplished, but sometimes it takes someone or something to reveal the truth of His presence in things we do not at first expect to be places where He is present… and it takes someone or something to help us celebrate the goodness of His plan in things that did not seem like goodness at all to us at the time. To write something that is inspirational is to reveal a part of your own wonder at the unveiling of a truth so that the readers may take a new look at the experiences of their own lives.
Describe your writing background.
My undergraduate degree was in English, speech, and drama. I was a teacher for the first eight years after college until God called me into the ministry.
I learned to love creative writing as a child. My earliest memories are of my mother gathering my brothers and I around the kitchen table journaling our lives. Even before I could read or write, she would ask me to paste pictures in a book and she would write what I would say beneath them. By the time I was in second grade, a regular game she led us in was to write short stories together (sometimes even scarey ghost stories!) and read them to one another. On rainy days, she would have us write the beginning of a story and then pass it to one of our brothers to complete. Whenever we "turned a phrase" in a particularly clever or meaningful way, she would write it in caligraphy and post it on the refrigerator. Her delight is what I still visualize whenever I write.
What is the first thing you ever wrote?
I wrote a Hardy Boys novella when I was in the seventh grade. I used the characters from the series and created the storyline myself. Alas, it is lost.
What else have you had published?
With Merewether Publishing, I have published contemporary dramas and religious plays for Lent and Advent:
"Into These Hands I Commend My Spirit" – 1985
"This Is My Story" – 1986
"Kept in Her Heart" – 1988
"Have You Seen My Son?" – 1989
Best of Easter drama (an anthology, contributing) – 1999
"Soldier’s Stories" – 2000
More Christmas on Stage (an anthology, contributing) — 2008
What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received, and from whom?
When I was a freshman at the University of Richmond, I worked diligently on my first assignment for my English professor, Dr. Stepheson. He passed it back with these words: "This clearly reveals the author’s desire to be a ‘great writer.’ However, I find it a pedantic escapade into verbosity."
I learned to be more precise in my writing!
What’s next for you?
I have just completed two novels. The first is an historical fiction book about the prophets of the Babylonian Exile. An editor at Tyndale House has passed it on to the publisher for consideration. The second is a piece of fiction that explores the human condition and the question of whether fate or God controls our life… or if there is any meaningful director at all. It should surprise no one that the characters I have created ultimately conclude that all things work together for good by the Hand of God.
