I've been thinking of Jenn Gray, and her ending of her blog girl on the right, and what I said in my last post. Thinking of it in terms of how blogging affects me, and how it is contributing to our zeitgeist.
First of all, as to how it affects the zeitgeist: I'm under no illusions that I'm going to sway public opinion. People who read my blog are either reading it because they agree (and like to read opinions they agree with) or they disagree (and are looking for opinions to attack). I do the same thing. In fact, its why I link to both National Review and Mother Jones below. I believe it's important to read both sides of an issue, and be aware of opinions contrary to ones own. It makes one better able to defend their own beliefs, as well as changing ones mind when they're wrong, as I have done in my own life. The most I think my blog will do is let people know of a news story they may not have heard otherwise (rarely), or to hear a defense of Christianity that goes against the secular worldview, or to hear of some activity or teaching of liberal religion that deserves to be confronted. If I contribute anything of value to anyone, I'm glad to have done so, but I'm under no illustion that I do this better than others. Linking to others' words is a great feature of html and the Internet.
Now, how does it affect me? Since I've started blogging, I sometimes feel the need to walk away from it for a few days. Or, a better way to put it is -- the people in my life who I see personally, such as in my church (but others as well), are much more important, and blogging takes time away from them, at least if done in excess. So I'm active in my church, both in the choir and other activities, we worship God (prayer & Bible study) with people from another church on a day of the week other than Sunday, and we're active in a non-church, non-work hobby (target-shooting - which I consider a patriotic exercise of my Second Amendment rights as well as a lot of fun). And we go to hockey games! And we're adopting, and will someday (within the next 16 months) have a child in our family!
So basically, I've decided to keep on blogging, but to give priority to other activities involving face-to-face interaction with other people. Of course, the points I talked about on New Year's Day are also true: the ultimate priority is to God: Love Him first with all you've got, and let that love flow through you to all those you know, and who you meet. Life is rich and wonderful when God is at the helm.
Posted by joelfuhrmann at January 11, 2003 04:44 PM