Once upon a time there was a curate.
She was a very new curate, just a few weeks into her diaconate, when someone of whom she was fond pointed out that it was rather rude to comment on the blogs of others but to have nowhere of your own to contribute to the conversation.
As one who had always loved words, she saw the justice in this - and so a blog was born.
As she settled into ordained ministry, that blog became a huge blessing to her...a place to think aloud, to try and make sense of the experiences of God at work in, beyond and despite the Church, to learn from others, to wonder and to celebrate.
It became the route to a network of new friends in places she'd never imagined, her stake in a whole new community, and even drew her into contributing to a book.
Quite often, at gatherings of Christians in other places someone would say
"You're "Good in Parts" aren't you?".....and many a friendship was born.
It was all most exciting. Finding time to blog was rarely a problem, and curacy seemed a fertile ground for theological reflection...but one day, that curate grew up and became an incumbent.
Abruptly, the world changed.
The luxury of writing time seemed to evaporate overnight, and all too often the new incumbent found that she had indeed "had the experience but missed the meaning".
More, she was acutely aware of the added weight of responsibility that rested on her, the way that so many of the stories she encountered were not hers to share and would be much harder to disguise in a community where she was coming to be widely known and recognised...
The mystery ingredient which had sent her blogwards almost daily seemed to have run out but the vicar felt the poorer for it's loss.
Twitter replaced the blogging community - and indeed many one-time blog-friends turned up there or on Facebook too...but it was never quite the same.
Wonderful things kept on happening - but the vicar had got out of the habit of writing about them.
But - I love blogging...I love reading the blogs of others...I love all the splendid creativity that is freely available if you just sit down and log on...
So - I'm going to try again.
I'm going to try and focus once more on this dusty, neglected corner where only sermons seem to have flourished - and see if I can muster the time, and the creative energy to bring it back to life.
It won't matter much to other people - though with a bit of luck and a following wind it might yet be good - in parts!
She was a very new curate, just a few weeks into her diaconate, when someone of whom she was fond pointed out that it was rather rude to comment on the blogs of others but to have nowhere of your own to contribute to the conversation.
As one who had always loved words, she saw the justice in this - and so a blog was born.
As she settled into ordained ministry, that blog became a huge blessing to her...a place to think aloud, to try and make sense of the experiences of God at work in, beyond and despite the Church, to learn from others, to wonder and to celebrate.
It became the route to a network of new friends in places she'd never imagined, her stake in a whole new community, and even drew her into contributing to a book.
Quite often, at gatherings of Christians in other places someone would say
"You're "Good in Parts" aren't you?".....and many a friendship was born.
It was all most exciting. Finding time to blog was rarely a problem, and curacy seemed a fertile ground for theological reflection...but one day, that curate grew up and became an incumbent.
Abruptly, the world changed.
The luxury of writing time seemed to evaporate overnight, and all too often the new incumbent found that she had indeed "had the experience but missed the meaning".
More, she was acutely aware of the added weight of responsibility that rested on her, the way that so many of the stories she encountered were not hers to share and would be much harder to disguise in a community where she was coming to be widely known and recognised...
The mystery ingredient which had sent her blogwards almost daily seemed to have run out but the vicar felt the poorer for it's loss.
Twitter replaced the blogging community - and indeed many one-time blog-friends turned up there or on Facebook too...but it was never quite the same.
Wonderful things kept on happening - but the vicar had got out of the habit of writing about them.
But - I love blogging...I love reading the blogs of others...I love all the splendid creativity that is freely available if you just sit down and log on...
So - I'm going to try again.
I'm going to try and focus once more on this dusty, neglected corner where only sermons seem to have flourished - and see if I can muster the time, and the creative energy to bring it back to life.
It won't matter much to other people - though with a bit of luck and a following wind it might yet be good - in parts!
8 comments:
Should I say welcome back?
I've only followed your blog for a few months and as you describe, they have been focused on sermons.
Just following your conversations on twitter, is like following a miniblog, in each separate conversation.
So, from twitter I get a real sense of what might be on offer here.
I'm looking forward to reading future posts, and it might even stir me into bringing my own blog into the limelight, given that I currently only features reposts of my digidisciple posts.
And, I think that your posts will probably be good in most parts :)
I look forward to your blogs- I once spent a week reading all you had written as I got ready to go off to Theological college. then you were just moving on to your incumbency. Now I'm a curate and still find treasure in reading you thoughts and sermons.
My own blog seems to have gone by the wayside- perhaps its time I also gave some thought to writing again :)
yay! so pleased. Have missed your non sermon realities and ponderings...
This post feels so familiar.
I'm delighted you're having another go at it.
I find I am unwilling to kill the blog or let go of the name even though it's been uncared for for so long.
Happy blogging.
Hi there! I am glad you are coming back. I love that you are going to do this again.
Hi there! Nice to see you back. I miss the blogs.
May there be space and energy for your wisdom and humor!
Ah, I miss the blogging community that existed back when I first began blogging. I still blog, of course, but it seems like we are all scattered around on twitter, facebook, and other places on the internet. It's like the neighborhood has gotten bigger, faster, and more confusing.
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