In My Last Post…

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I mentioned that having received my first solicitation from AARP, I would proceed to “lie down” somewhere.  Undoubtedly, there are some of my readers who wonder if I never got up from that nap, judging by the fact that it’s been a full four weeks since I’ve said anything.

No, that’s not the case; actually, I’ve been active and busy and working and…and frankly, just not up to writing a whole lot.  I wouldn’t call it “writer’s block”, so much as “writer’s disinterest”, coupled with “writer’s fatigue”, coupled with “it’s summer, and I’m enjoying the out-of-doors, and just ain’t in the mood to sit indoors much.”

Which leads to what I’m leaning toward: it strikes me that the time may well have come to bring this blogging enterprise to a conclusion.  I’ve been at it for about 7 years (the Archives don’t show it, but way back in the beginning, if my ever-fading memory serves me, I blogged under another format for a few months).  It would be overreach to call me one of the pioneers of blogging, but it wouldn’t be overreach at all to call me an “early adopter”.  And it’s been fun.  And I think there are at least a handful of people whom I’ve inspired to blog, who are doing so with varying degrees of regularity, but who have some things to offer, and I read them and appreciate their insights and am happy if indeed my venture emboldened them to do the same.  Thoughtful, well-written commentary from a Christian perspective is ever-needful in this godless society in which we live.

But I’m just about ready, I think, to move on.

So here’s my tentative plan: this post is post number 1950 on this site.  I turn 50 in about 50 days.  That would give me an even sum of 2000 posts, if I hit about one a day.  I think I’d like to post #2000 on my 50th, and then sort of fade into the sunset.  That sounds right.  I hope to post (mostly) substantive stuff in the days to come; I hope to do a “best of” post or six, where I go back through the 1900+ and search out the ones I think are worthy of re-running; some of them may provoke new discussion, which would be fun.  I cannot tell you what a blast it can be to spend some of one’s day thinking of how to answer a person with a different point of view, not by “flaming” that person, but with a cogent, Christ-honoring answer.  I love it.  Next week, I’m meeting “Bob” in person to talk about the whole issue of homosexuality; some of you might remember that a few months back, in response to “Bob’s” questions, I did a 7-part series on the subject.  I look forward to seeing him and chewing the fat in that regard; I love it.

Now, it may be that if I meet this lofty goal, I in turn get re-inspired to continue.  I doubt at this point that that’ll happen, but I reserve that right.  It’s my blog, and I’ll…blog…if I want to…but for now, that’s the plan.  But I guess the bottom line is that I try…not always hit it, but try…to either do something reasonably well, or to not do it at all.  Lately, I haven’t been doing this blogging thing particularly well, hence my decision.

It is my intent to leave this blog up, at least for some time; I pay just a few bucks to maintain it a year, and I think I’d like to keep it for at least a couple reasons: one, it does serve to elucidate what I think about life (and might serve for a few good laughs in a few years when I’m older and wiser and want to repudiate some of the dumb stuff I undoubtedly think now).  Two, on occasion there are people who stumble upon it for one reason or another, and it gives me opportunity to engage them in conversation.  Some of them rail at me (Ryan, of recent vintage, being one example), but with tact and patience, I think I can, if not persuade folks like Ryan, at least present perhaps a different picture of a Christ-follower.

And that has been worth doing.

6 Comments

  1. Jack Brooks on July 21, 2010 at 5:48 pm

    Hey, attack Xenos Christian fellowship, & see what happens!

    • Byron on July 21, 2010 at 7:25 pm

      Ironically, I defended Xenos before, and it sure went places! Or maybe I should find another defender of that Ronald Weinland nut…they were rabid, weren’t they?

  2. sherry on July 21, 2010 at 8:44 pm

    Where will Warren go to write entertaining blog comments?

  3. Laurie on July 22, 2010 at 2:53 pm

    I’m so glad I stopped by today, I took a break from blogging and just thought I’d peek in to see what’s up – Byron, don’t blame you for wanting to move on but I appreciate you leaving the blog up for awhile.

    I’ve had a blast here (and been blasted); never heard of Xenos so I have something interesting to read up on – yay! I just happened upon a “Parents Against Xenos” site; that should be fun to look into.

    Quick update on Ronald Weinland, according to another blog I look in on – he’s still doing his thing; he’s made enough excuses to buy himself enough time to keep fleecing his sheep awhile longer. His followers have pretty much fallen off the radar; they pop up now and again but are pretty quickly either scared off or shut down by Ron’s people. It’s not as easy to flush them out of hiding as it used to be.

    Ah well, good times….

  4. Laurie on July 22, 2010 at 2:55 pm

    I first heard from AARP a couple of years ago – my son laughed his head off! I feel your pain….

  5. Rookie on July 22, 2010 at 9:43 pm

    Well, you may give up your blogging, but I’ll never give up writing your sermons! Love you, man (I mean… old fart),
    Rook

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