WRITE

 BY WALLACE CALEB BATES

I do not always have as much time to write as I would like. The hours slip by with life’s endless demands. But when I do find the time, when I can settle in and let my fingers dance across the keyboard, there is a power I feel, unmistakable and alive.

It is not just creativity or clarity. It is something more profound. Something sacred.

When I was a child, writing was my constant companion. I wrote short stories and imagined headlines. I scribbled speeches for imaginary presidents and penned notes to no one in particular. Writing was both how I made sense of the world and how I found my place within it.

Now, as an adult, writing is no longer just something I do for fun. It is the core of who I am. I am a writer, not merely someone who writes. That distinction matters to me because writing is not just a skill or pastime. It is a calling.

As a devout Christian, I believe that God grants each of us unique gifts. Not everyone is meant to write. Not everyone is meant to teach, lead, or build. But each person, every single one of us, is created with something special, something divine placed within us. A spark. A gift. A tool for transformation.

For me, writing is that tool. It is how I advocate for others. It is how I live out my values. It is how I offer encouragement and healing in a world that often forgets to be gentle. Writing, for me, is more than communication; it is ministry, a sacred act that ties the physical to the spiritual.

And the same can be true for others, whatever their gift may be.

Some of you feel most alive when you sing. Others when you organize, when you nurture, when you invent, when you repair, when you speak the truth, or when you show up for someone who needs you. These gifts are not small. They are powerful. They are holy.

So, if you are ever tempted to dismiss your gift or compare it to someone else’s, pause and consider this: The world does not need copies. It needs you. Your presence. Your heart. Your offering.

You may not always have time to use your gift the way you would like. Life is like that. But when you do, lean into it. Let it flow through you. Let it become part of your worship, your work, and your witness.

Because what you carry within you is not just talent. It is a testimony. And there is genuine power in that.

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