In a poetic mood.

Whatever that means.

Sometimes the mood strikes me to write a poem. And sometimes I do, and it's awful, and sometimes I do, and it's "fair to middlin'" as my father would say, and sometimes it's just what I wanted. Sometimes I hit all those perfect authorial high notes -- lean, vivid, evocative, just the right combination of wit and punch.

I guess I have to realize that all my writing is like that -- that hitting "publish" on this blog is going to mean that I put a lot of things out there that I'm not satisfied with, that I go back and read months later and cringe at. I'm no "First-Draft" Lewis, and I never will be (alas?). And I realize that part of the discipline of being a writer is just continuing to hit "publish" week after week even when I don't have anything profound at the front of my mind. Because sometimes when I write a poem, it starts out as a sloppy ramble and ends up quite nicely summing up a thought filed away back in my brain. I reckon writing here won't be any different.

One of These Days, Doggonit...

REALLY.  Next summer I promise I'm going to say at the end of May, "See you in August!" instead of just abandoning my, like, four faithful readers for three months.

School year's about to start again, which means my brain is back in blog-production mode.  Look forward to some actual content here in the next few days!

Words Matter, part 2

(Previous warning about "shouty and capsy" remains in effect.)

Dear Blog Reader,

Seriously, quit thinking that every blogger is out to get you.  If you find yourself getting offended by pretty much everything you read on blogs, you need to do two things: 1) GET OFF THE INTERNET. and 2) FIND A HOBBY.  Nobody is sitting around coming up with new and creative ways to hurt your poor widdle feelings.  There comes a point where you need to ask yourself, "What is the common denominator in all of the posts that make me angry/offend me deeply/cause me to question people's salvation?"  I have the answer to that question.  IT'S YOU.

Maybe you're totally convinced that the KJV-only position is right, or that women should wear long dresses and headcoverings, or that daughters should ALWAYS stay home until they get married, even if that means no college and no job, ever.  WHAT ARE YOU DOING READING MY BLOG?  Or blogs of OTHER people who you KNOW do not agree with you on those subjects?  You HAVE TO REALIZE that you're going to be in the minority, right?  And that comments sections on blogs are probably NOT the best place to convince people to burn their NIVs and their PANTS?

Look, I don't frequent (for instance) the blogs of people who think that it's fine/good/desirable for women to be pastors/elders in the local church.  That's not because of some kind of confirmation bias, but just because I know that I'll get annoyed with their bad exegesis or disregard for Scripture and be tempted to let it all out in the comments sections.  I don't read Pyromaniacs anymore because those dudes are seriously NOT OK with people who believe in the continuation of all the gifts of the Spirit.  I mean NOT OK AT ALL.  So rather than going over there and painting a bullseye on my charismatic self, I just leave them to it, knowing that the Lord will one day correct THEIR theology just like he's definitely going to correct mine.

I mean, really, it gets to the point that I want to ask you, DO YOU HATE YOURSELF?  If not, WHY do you subject yourself to this all the time, and then get hurt and prickly and obnoxious about it?  MARTYR COMPLEXES ARE NOT CUTE.  CAN YOU DIG IT?

Love,
Laura

Words Matter

(Caveat: I am going to be a little shouty and capsy on this subject.  Bear with me.)

Dear fellow Christian bloggers,

If someone comments on your blog and says, "I felt really hurt by what you said about ___," THINK ABOUT IT before you reply with, "You just don't understand my deep theology/humor/word choice" or "You're being so sensitive, just man up, already" or "WHAT?  HERESY!"

YOU do not get to decide what hurts OTHER people's feelings.  YOU do not determine THEIR perception.  Maybe they're totally unjustified in their criticism.  FINE.  But don't just assume, for the love of God, that they just need to pull up their big girl panties and get down with whatever higher spiritual knowledge you're privy too, mmkay?  Newsflash: YOU ARE WRONG SOMETIMES.  In fact, on a spiritual level, apart from Christ, you are 100% wrong!  Not mostly wrong or partly wrong but COMPLETELY WRONG.  If a brother or sister in Christ is hurt by some thoughtless remark you made, even if you think they SHOULDN'T be, JUST FREAKING APOLOGIZE -- for the misunderstanding, if nothing else.  You know they have this fancy button on most blogging platforms, it's called the "EDIT" button.  You can use it to -- get this -- GO BACK and change the content of your posts.  I know.  Crazy. 

Whatever your opinions, they are not so important that you can excuse bad manners toward brothers and sisters, in the name of being RIGHT.  NO, THEY AREN'T.

Love,
Laura

How Does She Do It?

I do a lot of my writing on the weekends and schedule the posts to publish automatically during the week.  And I'm trying to be more intentional about just writing reflectively without having to draw big important conclusions.  I get really anxious about making my writing perfect, and especially about impressing people with my insight, and that's stupid.  Whether or not y'all think I'm smart doesn't have any impact on my identity in Christ.  That realization has been a long time coming.

I Love Kentucky, and My Upcoming 300th Post

First of all, I love Kentucky.  It was such a gorgeous day that I went for a drive, originally planning to stop in Prospect and hang out at the coffee shop there for a while, but I eventually made it as far as Bedford, where I turned and took the gorgeous and scenic US 421 back toward Campbellsburg, and then took I-71 back home.  I only wish I'd had a camera to capture the "Taxidermy While You Wait" sign, the many ancient black tobacco barns, and the tiny, tree-lined Town Branch creek that ran alongside the road.

Secondly, I'm hoping to reveal a couple more changes to Ye Olde Blogge in honor of my upcoming 300th post, but the topic of said post is as yet undecided.  Any thoughts?