What I Love Most About Blogging

It may seem strange, but my favorite thing about blogging is that you are not required to read this. Sure, there are several other aspects I enjoy. I like to write even if it is a painstaking process for me, and I desperately need an editor. I also find blogging therapeutic, or putting it in more biblical terms; it is a chance for me to be still and know that he is God. Most of my posts come from some stirring within me; some distress in my soul listening to hear the calmer of the storm say, “peace be still,” or some thirst meditating on the word of God seeking to be refreshed by a drink of living water. With all that said, though, I love that you can walk away whenever you choose, and here is why.

I do not like to waste people’s time, and several of my writings are just that. This post may fall into that category, or you may find something in it that is useful. It may encourage you to look at writing in a new way. It may even be the catalyst for you to start one of the most uncool things on the planet, a blog. Rarely does anyone gain any social credibility by walking into a party and telling people, “I have a blog,” however, that does not mean you should not do it. But I digress.

Writing a blog post is like pulling up a chair in someone’s home and starting a conversation. Somewhere along the way a piece of my heart will be exposed as a few of the fires within me struggle to find expression, but if my company is unsatisfactory, I can vanish from your presence simply by you looking away. You can do it now if you want. I will not even notice, so you do not have to worry about hurting my feelings, but the longer you keep reading, the more you allow the conversation to continue, and the more your hospitality endears me.

I teach a lot of classes, and one thing I know is that there are always people there who do not want to be. Whether it is my lack of teaching ability, the topic itself, or a desire or need of theirs that is pulling them away, I feel like I am imposing myself on them. I know that can be good in some situations, but not in most.

The inability to get up and walk out without causing a scene is one of the reasons we need to go to church regularly and sit under the Word of God. It is one of the reasons virtual church will never be as beneficial as actual church attendance. Our hearts are prone to wander, and physically sitting under the preaching of a man of God is a check on our restless souls. Even when they want to wander, they cannot. We must sit and listen even if we do not like the preacher’s manner of communication or his subject matter. It is the grace of God that he often convicts and nourishes us as we desire to escape, but that is church. Being imposed upon there is a good thing, but this is a blog, and I am not your pastor. At best, if you are a Christian, I am your brother in Christ, but that does not mean out of the millions of other things you could read online, you should be reading posts here.

What is the point of all this? The people I most enjoy hearing my thoughts are the ones who want to hear them. As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, most of my writing comes from a stirring within me, and today, I simply wanted you to know that I do not take you for granted. Our time together may be as long or short as you wish, and your attention, however much of it you decide to give, is a gift to me. So, if you are still reading this, thank you. It means a lot, and knowing you took the time when you did not have to is what I love most about blogging.  

-D. Eaton