Intersect

My first blog. What to say? Never heard the word “blog” until just a few years ago. My dear departed dad would wonder at the nonsense of both the word and the practice. “Blog, schmog…shut up and get back to work.”

We used to call it a diary or a journal. It was a very private, even sacred book. In my case at least, it was encrypted in my unusual (to put it kindly) cursive. The idea of splashing one’s inmost thoughts, feelings and opinions around on a webcanvas seems exhibitionistic, or to give my mother’s colloquialisms equal time, “uppity.” This is especially so for a closet introvert (is there any other kind?).

Reading blogs is the literary equivalent of watching video wherein the subjects knew they were “on.” You know, “reality” TV. People play to the camera or try to dodge it. Or, they move out of their norms while trying to act normal. The moment we start “trying” at just about anything authenticity pretty much gets lost behind the façade no matter how apparently normal.

I would like to write a “normal” blog. What’s going on in my life and in the life of the two Christian ministries that I serve will generally be the topic. Sometimes I will get “preachy” since that is how I’ve spent (misspent?) most of my life. I can also get a little “sappy” and for sure, “cheesy.” If that doesn’t scare you away, I’ll keep trying!

Some bloggers ventilate, finding catharsis in their authenticity. Others pontificate, a trap which will surely catch me from time to time. Still others bloviate in writing. That very sentence proves that I can do that with the best of them.

But I doubt that I will ever be really real. Telling you what’s really ticking me off these days or where I am really struggling. Even the fact that I just used the word “ticking” belies the self-editing that is required to be sensitive to the reader, as well as my reputation and that of the institutions I serve (and by whom I am paid).

Most folks who start blogs lose interest pretty fast, usually when they realize that their primary readers are their mothers and themselves. My mom passed away years ago, so if I’m going to persist, I need at least one of you to stand in for her, but you can rotate. I hope and pray that there will be days when you will need what I have to say and what the Holy Spirit might be pleased to say through me. I look forward to the discipline and the adventure. ttyl

- Rick Porter