Why I Write

            I don’t know if anyone noticed, but I only posted a blog entry once last week, where I usually post twice a week.

            I’ve been trying to post twice a week ever since I started blogging.  This is a deliberate decision on my part.  I know myself well enough to know that I need to schedule something like this into my week, or I’ll put it off and eventually won’t do it at all.  I started out posting on Mondays and Thursdays.  Now, it tends to be more Tuesdays and Fridays, or Wednesdays and Fridays, or Wednesdays and Saturdays.  Still, I do try to post twice a week if possible.

            I consider my blogging, and all of my writing, to be a form of spiritual discipline.  I don’t mean that to sound pretentious.  While I try to make these posts as good as I can, I understand that all they’re only little essays on a blog.  I don’t think that I’m writing Deep Thoughts without which the world would be poorer or anything of that sort.

            What I mean by calling it a form of spiritual discipline is that writing these posts helps me clarify what I really think about things.  Trying to set down my thoughts on various topics, and trying to do so in a way that will make sense to the reader, helps me clarify not just what I think, but why I think what I think.  Knowing that some people who read my thoughts may disagree with them makes me set my thoughts down more carefully.  It makes me hesitant to make broad, sweeping generalizations, and instead helps me become more precise in what I say and think.  This, in turn, helps me become more precise in what I believe.

            Because this blog tends to be both about my life and about faith, I find writing it to be very helpful in my role as a pastor.  It helps me think about what I really believe and why I believe it.  It helps me think about the impact my faith has on my life, as well as the impact my life has on my faith.  It also helps me think about whether my life is really consistent with my faith and vice versa.  As a result, writing this blog helps me feel closer to God.

            If you’re reading this, I assume you find it helpful in some way, too.  I’m glad of that.  I know there aren’t hundreds of people reading my blog, but that’s okay.  We’re not always supposed to reach hundreds of people at a time.  Sometimes, we’re only supposed to reach one or two people at a time.  That’s okay.  In fact, sometimes the most valuable ministry we do only reaches one or two people at a time.

            So, I’m going to keep blogging twice a week when I can.  There will be the occasional week, like last week, when I can’t, but I’m going to give it my best shot.  It’s helpful to me.  It helps me clarify my thoughts, and it helps me feel closer to God.  I hope it helps you in some way, too.