To blog or not to blog... That seems to be the question.

My response to the accusers out there? Blog off!

Not really ;-) Yes, I too have been forced to consider whether or not this blogging lark is an expression of self in the narcissistic sense, or whether there really is a substantial 'paradigm shift' in the mindset and functional existence of the 21st century punter like myself, that the church needs to take hold of and run with for all it is worth in order to reach a generation of 'fragmented learners' - a topic that I have been musing upon a lot of late, after finding myself to be consistently of this nature.

What do I mean by this? A fragment... A small amount. There is just not time in a culture where all people must work for hours on end, to think in the traditional sense anymore. The best way I can describe it (which is unusual for me as the following will contain a distinct lack of pink, fluff or sparkles!!) is to think of a computer hard drive. As data is tapped into your computer, the once happy, peace-loving machine starts to gather bits of information, which come to it in tiny particles. Sometimes data is entered, sometimes it is deleted, sometimes it is moved around, the result being that it ends up scattered. Now it still works and makes sense to the computer, but it may take longer to locate the fragments to build the correct files. This is why we need to defragment the hard drive, so that all the particles come back into alignment and the computer is able to run more efficiently.

These fragments of information are much like the modern mind and how it works. We have been raised with computers that work in this way and our minds in turn have perhaps adopted the trend (a bit scary). I find that I am much more able to read a fragment on someone's blog, than read a lengthy instructive novel. I am happier to muse upon a singular disciplinary thought at length than to be bashed to pieces by a whole script and then quietly hide it away and forget about it. Similarly when at Uni, if someone quickly shows me how to do something on the computer, I will remember it better than if I have heard it in the middle of a lecture. When I am in lectures, I find that I do remember most things. I couldn't recite the lecture to you in order, but when I see a book in the library with some reference to the lecture, it acts as a visual 'trigger' and I remember the whole section and what it was about.

This is because I learn in 3D, words alone can sometimes be empty, but when placed with other sensory motivators (visual, musical, tactile etc) they are easier to remember. I wonder if this is because a lot of our learning is done interactively (such as on the computer/blog?)

So why are blogs so popular? Is this nation so insecure that they want people to read about the real them? (it is hard not to show your real self when you write). Well, possibly. Or is it because people are nosy? Probably! Think of how many people watch Big Brother (I have to say that I can't stand it!) There seems to be an irresistible urge to observe the lives of 'normal' people and see what they do. Why do we do this?? I do it a lot, I am a people watcher partly because I am shy, but also because it fascinates me. You can learn a lot through mere observation.

Now here is the point. Where does the church fit in and what is a good reason for blogging? You may look at my blog and call it narcissistic because I talk about what I have been doing, my family, my cats etc! There are also articles about God, frustrations of life, musings etc. Surely if I were truly humble I would write just about God? Probably, but I only feel that I could do that if I spent my whole life in prayer, reading the Bible and preaching the Word of God (I wish!) I spent years thinking that people who preached in church were massively holy because all I knew of them were the words on the stage. Compared to me of course, they are massively holy! Still, the Christian life is about showing Jesus through everything we do. It is about living an integrated lifestyle. I would hope that my blog shows me as someone who is not pious and condescending, but as one who is an ordinary (and not particularly great) human being, but with an extraordinary God. If someone laughs at an article about a melting ice-cream van and then reads a fragment about God then hooray! It may be a step towards coming to church and knowing the Lord. God is part of everything in life, he is not sectioned onto a 'God blog' or a Sunday church service. I don't want to lead a double life, where God comes out of the box in front of certain audiences, He is who I live for!!

The bottom line is, I don't promote this blog, people only read it if they choose to. If you wear the latest fashions, then you are promoting 'yourself' in a far more blatant manner than the few 'diary' style scribblings of a bloggstar. I don't claim to be wise or discerning, just a rambling blonde on a journey to heaven! What does everyone else make of this topical debate?