What the editor did this week
One of the fascinating things about editing for a national Christian publishing organization is the variety of work it enables me to do. It is much more than a matter of having interesting articles and tidbits of information cross my desk. This is full Christian engagement with the world we inhabit. It's business; it's ministry; it's vocation; it's life.
A big part of my job is making sure that others are on track. The system is much bigger than the editor. Trusting other staff members and relying on a widespread network of associates is a huge part of this position.
I am so dependent. Others carry the day-to-day load of ensuring that articles and advertisements are collected, copyedited, corrected and published in various editions of the newspaper and online. They make sure the papers are delivered, revenues are collected and bills get paid. I care about these things, but I'm grateful that I'm usually free from the minutiae.
Writing is one of the things I get to do, and this week I did quite a bit of it. Developing special projects is also part of my portfolio, and this week we advanced a couple of those. Every two months we produce a new edition of SEVEN magazine for Promise Keepers Canada, and we'll be taking March/April to press very soon. Every edition of ChristianWeek and every project we're part of involves a range of people and a host of details. It's not hard to be busy.
But busyness is not what we're really about; it's not what the editor's job is meant to be. This work is more about direction. It is about discerning the heartbeat of Christianity in Canada and finding the stories that guide us into better ways of living, worshiping and serving. It is about connecting with individuals and congregations and delivering information and inspiration that bring hope and healing to many in their midst.
This week I also had the awful privilege of being a pastor, of being the person on call when a young couple lost a two-month-old baby who simply died in her sleep. This has been a hard, hard situation, but we've been discovering God in the midst of it. It reminds me that so much of the work of the church is grounded in the ordinary, in the day-to-day stuff of life and death and passages of many sorts.
So what did the editor do this week? He took a few fresh lessons in things he already knows. He learned once again that ChristianWeek is genetically hardwired to love the people of God. Like a healthy congregation, we gravitate to good news but we deal with reality. Time and again we discover that God is more than able to overcome the brokenness of our world. This is our faith. This is our confidence. This is our editorial direction.
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