I Need to Write
Submitted by plauer on Fri, 08/06/2010 - 11:02
There's a lot happening behind the scenes in my work which has my mind spinning with questions and considerations. I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in at least two weeks because these things spin around in my head, keeping me from the random thoughts and dreams of sleep.
So I find that writing these things down is helpful; or at least I hope it is or that I'm trying to make it so. I've already spent more than two hours writing about these things on my supposed "day off" (Can a pastor ever be "off"? Can he ever put aside the responsibilities of his office such as caring for the flock, thinking about them, praying for them, considering how he can best serve them?) because I think it may help me 'process' these things so I can sleep and stay focused in my work and in my home responsibilities.
I don't think that I'm writing for anyone besides myself. As best I can tell, some folks "google" me and end up here looking for contact information or the congregation's website. Maybe they end up here looking for some dirt on me from the internet. But as far as I can tell, the only ones reading my posts are web crawlers and bots looking for search results. I can tell because all visitors leave behind their IP address which is owned by someone and those domain owners can be found by the internet address. I can also tell because they only spend seconds, at most, looking at any page.
So this is website is probably more of a portfolio of my work and my thoughts. I suppose some congregation may discover this site when I'm on their Call list. And if so, it's better that they get to know me and how I think before they call me. I think congregations do better in calling pastors when they have more information, not less. And this site may give someone insight into their own pastor's thoughts and concerns which would probably be a good thing as well. I figure that there's no sense waiting until I die for someone to go through my files as I don't release any confidences. Let the chips fall where they may, as it is said.
At least for now it may help me sleep better which is reason enough for writing.
So I find that writing these things down is helpful; or at least I hope it is or that I'm trying to make it so. I've already spent more than two hours writing about these things on my supposed "day off" (Can a pastor ever be "off"? Can he ever put aside the responsibilities of his office such as caring for the flock, thinking about them, praying for them, considering how he can best serve them?) because I think it may help me 'process' these things so I can sleep and stay focused in my work and in my home responsibilities.
I don't think that I'm writing for anyone besides myself. As best I can tell, some folks "google" me and end up here looking for contact information or the congregation's website. Maybe they end up here looking for some dirt on me from the internet. But as far as I can tell, the only ones reading my posts are web crawlers and bots looking for search results. I can tell because all visitors leave behind their IP address which is owned by someone and those domain owners can be found by the internet address. I can also tell because they only spend seconds, at most, looking at any page.
So this is website is probably more of a portfolio of my work and my thoughts. I suppose some congregation may discover this site when I'm on their Call list. And if so, it's better that they get to know me and how I think before they call me. I think congregations do better in calling pastors when they have more information, not less. And this site may give someone insight into their own pastor's thoughts and concerns which would probably be a good thing as well. I figure that there's no sense waiting until I die for someone to go through my files as I don't release any confidences. Let the chips fall where they may, as it is said.
At least for now it may help me sleep better which is reason enough for writing.