Why write?

Someone asked me a while ago why I wrote a blog.  The point being made that it is substantial output and it has been going for sometime now.  I admit I do not think much about the why.  As it has been said before, we tend to write in order to be understood and we tend to read in order to understand.  I wish I could say I had some lofty idea or grand description of it all.  I fear I do not.

Honestly, I write because I think and I fear losing my thoughts into the great abyss of busyness and emptiness and so I write them down.  How I write is more or less how I think.  In fact, my writing suffers from being less an organized outline of my thoughts than real meandering thoughts of a pastor who probably thinks too much.  My writing is an extension of my thinking.  By putting words down, I come face to face with what it is I think about this or that.  Perhaps it could be said that writing is part of my thinking process and it could be that the raw conclusions of my mind are not given much shape until they become words on a page (or screen, as it were).

It occurs to me that we don't do enough thinking these days.  We do write, in the modern syntax of text and email, but we do not so much think as we simply give expression to what happens to be on our minds at any given moment.  I fear that too much of what is published on the internet is just that, a coughing up of words to express the fit of the moment.  But because they get published when we press the send or post button, we have to own them.  Because we own them, we feel we must defend them.  And so instead of getting anywhere, we seem to be mired in the unmovable trench of our whims, masquerading as thoughts, published as if they were a fully formed position.

There are those who wonder why I allow comments.  I am not sure I have a real answer.  Perhaps because I fear the folks who read what I say deserve a chance to rebut my opinions and arguments.  Perhaps because it is just easier to let people have their way with them.  The truth is I seldom pay that much attention to the comments -- not because I feel superior to them but because so often they represent their own tangents and points.  In fact, I often read a comment and wonder how on earth the reader got that from what I wrote.  One thing I hardly ever do is respond to the comments.  I do not intend to argue my point.  You can read it.  You can read it and weep.  You can read it and ignore it. That is up to you.  I have said my piece and so I leave the commenters to their comments.

Which brings me to a point.  From time to time I thank those who read because I am genuinely amazed at how many folks do read this humble blog.  I will freely admit that it is of uneven quality but I am humbled by the attention some give to my words.  So if you are a reader, I want to take this opportunity to say "thank you" for spending part of your day here.  Through the blog I have met so many different folks and it is a treasure to engage some of your in conversation when we do meet.  So thank you, my friends.  I will continue writing.  And, if you wish, continue reading.