A trusted Orthodox brother has kept me attentive to whether or not this blog is a good thing for me. Another brother has shared some of his reasoning as to why he stopped blogging. Both of these men, even as they offer encouragement and positive response relative to specific posts, are keeping me attentive to the question of the future life of this blog.
If the first brother had not offered his incisive questioning, I doubt whether it would have occurred to me to seriously consider exiting the blogosphere. If the second brother had not shared what he did regarding his reasons for his blogging absence, I doubt whether it would have occurred to me to seriously consider whether some of my thoughts regarding the utility of this blog might not be the seedbed of pretension and self-deception.
Clearly, this is a matter about which I need to consider several important things. Discernment is needed. Anyone got an extra bottle of it lying around?
Posted by Clifton at October 11, 2005 03:15 PM | TrackBackClifton,
Your writings have been an invaluable tool in helping me to understand and deepen my faith. Something I liked about you ever since I met you -- was it a year ago? -- and since I started frequenting your blog, is that you are not only intellectually sharp, but creative in how you go about defending the faith. This last element in your writing has appealed to me most, because all the brains in the world, without a fresh and interesting approach, will make most people fall asleep. Yet, you have a way of breaking into something and seeing the connections I might not have seen before. It is a trait that I hope to develop in my own thought and writing style. I just thought you should know how much you have impacted me. The Lord bless you on your journey, and may His wisdom guide you in the paths of righteousness.
I would appreciate your continued prayers for my sister and brother-in-law as they are still seperated.
Posted by: David Richards at October 11, 2005 03:59 PMIronically, David, that answer should move me more toward not blogging! Maybe if you'd said the whole blog is a worthless piece of pretentious cantankerous crap . . . !
Posted by: Clifton D. Healy at October 11, 2005 04:06 PMYour whole blog is a worthles piece of pretentious cantankerous crap...!
Posted by: David Richards at October 11, 2005 05:08 PMClifton -
I took a quick poll of the internet and it passed unanimously that you are forbidden for life from quitting your blog. Sorry, but the people have spoken.
Posted by: Nathan at October 11, 2005 05:56 PM"this blog might not be the seedbed of pretension and self-deception"
Only you can answer that. Yet, it also could
be a blog that acknowledges your honest opinions of which reveal a person who is truly humble. Who is "reality-based" and not full of hyperbole.
Be honest, humble and reality-based....
Then you won't have to reason the why's and why not's!
Posted by: Chrysostomos at October 11, 2005 06:24 PMCliff,
I love your blog. I think it's exemplary for how to do an internet conversation that is open to honest pursuit of truth and, in that, the Truth. Please don't look so closely at yourself, that's why that Lord provided us with wives! This is a healthy space for you and for other pilgrims whom you meet here.
Posted by: Ransom at October 11, 2005 07:28 PMAt times I've considered giving up my blog becuase while it allows me to keep in touch with more people than I normally would in an easy manner, I do so in a less personal way. I find myself kind of expecting people to have read my blog to know what is going on with me. Plus, I think my spiritual writings would be much more real and personal to me in a journal where I'm writing soley for myself. The problem is that for whatever reasons it's much easier to write on my blog than in a journal. It all comes down to time and motiviation. Which is another thing, without serious self-discipline I waste a huge amount of time looking at other people's blogs whom I don't know. How much information do I really need? What is feeding my soul? It's a balancing act, and I don't know which way I'm going to fall yet. I think in a couple more years we will see more clearly what the downside of a blogging community is and how much it has taken away from non-virtual communities such as families, friends, and neighborhoods who meet in real space.
Posted by: andyp at October 11, 2005 10:20 PMClifton,
If blogging negatively effects your relationship with your family or your Orthodopraxis, it would probably be best to let it go, even though I enjoy reading your blog.
I'd like to offer support similar to JohnH. We out here in the audience see only your blog. We enjoy it, profit from it, have our thinking and faith stimulated by it. BUT, what I have no idea about is how your blogging time and the intellectual energy to do so impacts your family life, your prayer life, your wife's needs, etc. I find nothing in the content that would suggest hubris or being full of one's self or pride or pretension. Of course, in your heart all may be present. You alone know the answer to that.
Why do you blog? What profit do you derive from it?
Posted by: Robert at October 12, 2005 01:01 PMI would miss your blog very much...for one thing the time i spend reading your posts gives me an excuse not to update my own blog. Secondly, after these last 2+ years that i've been reading your blog i feel like you've become a friend...however far fetched or imaginitive that may sound. i would deeply miss this contact point, much as i miss Karl's absence.
Do what you must.
Posted by: aaron at October 12, 2005 04:41 PM