a new start

I recently celebrated a birthday, which fell on a Sunday this year, so I had the mixed blessing of sharing the morning with a lot of people and trying to be responsible in preaching a sermon faithful to the text. As if I didn't have enough of an audience on Sunday morning, I decided it would be a good time to reach out into cyber-space. Actually, I felt like I was one of the few people I know who didn't have a blog. (I've always been on the slow end of the technology wave.)

There are some major differences between sermons and blogs. When I preach, I feel pressure to be accurate in representing scripture. Here, I write from the text of my life. In worship, I consider how a message affects those who are listening. Here, readers are anonymous. I have no hidden agenda, no lectionary to guide me (other than the bits of sermon writing that may spill over into my thoughts), and no special church emphases. It's actually very freeing.

In the past, I have been an occasional journaler, but I go from times when I write every day to months without writing a word. However, there's something about putting thoughts out there for anyone to see that makes me feel accountable. There's something very vulnerable and appealing to creating space for whatever responses may come. I think this is the church at its best and its worst. We are both free to speak our thoughts and unaware of how our comments may be read by others. We share deep parts of who we are, yet we reserve giving out too much personal information. Oh, to live in a community where we can all give and receive with complete trust and confidence...

Thanks for reading, and please share your comments,

Peacepastor