E-mail me!
Back
I'm taking this American Literature class here at A&M. One of the requirements of the class is daily reading. Every class we have a quiz on the material that was previously assigned. It is rather a pain but it is effective in making the class read the material - something that probably wouldn't happen otherwise. Recently, we've been reading works by some great theologians of the American past and other note-worthy writers. These writings - especially those by Jonathan Edwards and Nathaniel Hawthorne - have been inspiring to me this last month. Most of these early Amerian writers didn't write because they wanted to become famous or rich. Rather, they wrote because they were pleased by it. Had they written to be successful, I don't think they would have made any impact whatsoever. I say this because their writings have been so influential on today and writers of the period who made an effort to make money or gain fame did so but have never been thought of since. I don't know if that says anything about what God wants in out life or not. But what it does say - if only to me - one should write and one should write for himself and just merely for the pleasure.
Please don't take this to mean that I don't want to write anything of quality. In fact, I want to write nothing that isn't quality. The method I have decided to use in writing these pages is just to write. No motive or driving force will determine the content, format, topic, or tone of this writing.
This is how it will be done. I will write on specific topics if and when I feel. If I am not so inclined, I will write as randomly directed much as I am now. Later, works may be edited, rearranged, rewritten, or copied into other works. This will be a continual process and I will never consider it complete. If, by any reason somebody reads any of what I hope to be a long tradition of writing on my part, I hope they know or become aware that I never intend these works as a whole to make sense, to have any point, or to resemble any type of product. I hope readers and critics are easy in their evaluation. If by some reason these works are considered quality by others, it shall merely be by the hand of God.
As for content, I would prefer this not to be a journal or a diary. Rather, I would hope these would be independent works on various subjects. At the time no particular subjects come to mind. However, I would like to write something sacred, something profound, something useful, something worthless. I have not doubt that if this project persist at any lejgth, all the categories here will be well represented - some maybe more than others.
My prayer and desire is that if nothing ever somes of this, at leat the writing will be glorifying to Him.
In His name,
Justin Custer (Fall 1997)