He wrote short stories for magazines but had an idea for a novel. He wrote only a few pages and trashed it when he lost interest. However, his wife dug it out of the trash and chided him.
“I want to know what happens next,” she said.
He then revisited the project and published it as his first novel in 1974. “Carrie” was the first step in the $500 million fortune Stephen King enjoys today.
I propose there are several lessons here.
One is that we often fail to ascertain our own abilities. And sometimes we’re discouraged from owning up to what we’re good at.
“That’s being self-centered,” they tell us, or “you need to think about others more than yourself.”
My generation was taught that JOY was Jesus first, others second and yourself last. True, to a point. One writer suggested GIN is a better acronym, though he admitted it sounded alcoholic and would never thrive in the evangelical church! But God loves me, I can love myself, now I’m free to love and serve you, thus GIN.
Self-love and positive self-assessment isn’t a bad thing. Jesus taught us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. The opposite of this is self-loathing or self-harm.
But another lesson is the role encouragers play in our lives. Tabitha King did this for husband Stephen, and you and I can do it for others.
A man reflected on great teachers he’d had in his life and determined to write letters to them. Mrs. Harris came to mind—a favorite from his grammar school days. He sent a note, and she wrote him back.
“Dear William,” she penned. “I received your kind letter, and it was like a refreshing breeze on a warm day. You’ll be interested to know that in my 40 years of teaching, yours was the first note of appreciation I had ever received.”
I’m convinced we often don’t thank people publicly in our churches for fear of leaving someone out. Perhaps if we think of others we left out, we should revisit the issue and thank them the next Sunday.
Scripture exhorts us to have thankful hearts. We thank God, first of all, for his “unspeakable gift” of salvation (2 Corinthians 9: 15). But this is only the beginning. We develop a lifestyle of gratitude, and this gratitude should be often expressed in the shortness of days we have. As preachers often say, “Today is important, for we’re not promised a tomorrow.”
The horror of Stephen King may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but he has unquestionably influenced this generation.
And to think his influence was all but in the trash until someone believed in him.
