Attraction vs Alienation
Another blog that Henry led me to is Akma's Random Thoughts, with which, as a seminarian, I feel a kinship. One of Akma's posts speaks to an issue that has been on my mind since I started blogging, all 48 hours or so. I am drawn to blogging in part for its power to educate, to inspire, and ultimately to raise the consciousness of readers. I think humanity will jump (to a new level of awarness) or die, and I see blogging as an important support for jumping. Call it, for me, an electronic ministry. In his post, Akma answers a reader's concern "about the risks of clerical blogging, not in terms of stalkers and children, but in terms of misunderstanding. I did bring this up, and used as a case in point a screenshot from a former student’s blog (with permission). He didn’t [do] anything specifically wrong; someone just misunderstood something he wrote, big time, and all kinds of mayhem evidently ensued."

Ideally a minister is part prophet, which perhaps answers the question, since prophets are not known for beating around the bush (except, perhaps Elijah). But a minister is also a shepherd who hates to lose no sheep. Dialectic? Maybe. So what's the third way? Perhaps to recognize the power of the truth to attract and commit to expressing it as attractively as possible. Perhaps this approach can meet both goals I see for blogging: (1) sort out the truth by sifting through facts and ideas with as many of the 600 million folks online as possible (thx for the #, Henry) and (2) give a new set of glasses to those mesmerized by the status quo.

Maybe it simply comes down to taming that pesky pride thing we've suffered from so long. We are fishing for readers. Let the bait be irresistable.