Gary Neal Hansen

Theology. It's good for you.

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You are here: Home / Archives for The Inner Life of the Writer

Interruptions (The Writer’s Inner Life)

September 6, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

Interruptions

If you’ve been following this series, you know I’m posting on “The Writer’s Inner Life” on Mondays. If you have a calendar, you know that today is Tuesday. Labor Day was an interruption. It was a good one: some time hanging pictures in our new home with my wife, some time in a park with the […]

Filed Under: Saints, The Inner Life of the Writer Tagged With: Antony the Great, Desert Fathers, Interruptions, St. Anthony of Egypt

Fighting Inner Demons (The Writer’s Inner Life)

August 29, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen 4 Comments

fighting inner demons

For a few posts now I’ve been exploring the writer’s inner life. Today this series of posts becomes all the more important to me: my kids have returned to school, so I am able to write full time. So, daily, I need to write. We’re all fighting inner demons And to write I have to defeat […]

Filed Under: Saints, The Inner Life of the Writer Tagged With: Antony the Great, Desert Fathers, fighting inner demons, Life of Antony, St. Anthony

Accidie — The Noontime Demon (The Writer’s Inner Life)

August 22, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen 5 Comments

the noontime demon

I’m working on making my working life happy and productive without having to punch a clock or meet institutional deadlines. So my advisors at the moment are the Desert Fathers and Mothers, Christians who moved out to the fourth century Egyptian desert for an isolated life of prayer. Sometimes they hit it straight out of the park, not just […]

Filed Under: Monasticism, Saints, The Inner Life of the Writer Tagged With: Accidie, Antony the Great, Desert Fathers, Evagrius of Pontus, Evagrius Ponticus, Saint anthony, The noontime demon

Find Your Rhythm (The Writer’s Inner Life)

August 8, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen 3 Comments

Find your rhythm

Having big chunks of time to work on a creative project is a gift. It also brings problems. How do you keep at work with no looming deadlines, no timecard to punch, and no boss? As I move fully into writing, speaking, and other independent work, I’m facing those challenges daily. Of course I’m facing them my […]

Filed Under: Saints, The Inner Life of the Writer Tagged With: Accidie, Anthony the Great, Antony the Great, Desert Fathers

Stay in Your Cell (The Writer’s Inner Life)

August 2, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

Here’s one of my favorite little stories from the sayings of the Desert Fathers: In Scetis a brother went to Moses to ask for advice. He said to him “Go and sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.” (Quiet, 8) Moses wasn’t talking about prison. The “cell” was a monk’s hut […]

Filed Under: Monasticism, Saints, The Inner Life of the Writer Tagged With: Creativity, Desert Fathers, Moses the Black, Moses the Ethiopian

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Theology. It’s good for you.

I'm a Church historian by trade. My writing, speaking, and teaching explores the Christian past to equip today's disciples. Join me here for regular posts on the best of theology, spirituality, community, and ministry. read more…

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