Monday 11 March 2013

Has blogging had its day?

I have struggled to blog for some weeks now. Part of that has been

  1. Crisis of confidence - does anyone actually care what I say? is blogging actually a vanity that I would do well to rid myself of?  I have observed in the past that many bloggers whose work I have enjoyed have stopped because the very act of blogging seems to have become a tyranny.       Part of that has often been unwanted and unwelcome comments which, I guess, goes with the territory. If you are going to stick your neck out then expect that at least some people will try and chop your head off.   And I am proud to say that has happened to me. At least one Minister of the Crown had a go at me. Then there is the sense that those up what ever ladder you imagine yourself to be on read your blog and it affects how they behave towards you. There again....if you stick your head out.
  2. My second issue is about subject matter. I have habitually blogged about politics, the church and issues to do with human relationships. And I must say it has all become a bit tedious.   Well, politics has become boring, repetitive, uninteresting and....political. Our politicians are not interested in principle (it would seem) they are interested in power .                                         Gay Marriage Rights Australia notes that Mr Abbott is no longer "threatened" by gay people (here)    What I find deeply disturbing is a "religious" person who says that their deeply held religious view will not influence their political views.   This seems to be like double-speak. On the one hand "My belief in God deeply colours my world view",  on the other hand I have no intention of allowing my world view to colour my political-world view.  So is he saying that the two don't connect. And how do you straddle two worlds
  3. Finally, as we start the Papal Conclave, what I read of the Church is just deeply distressing. Both the Communion to which I belong (Anglican) and the one which will presume to elect a male leader for  Western Christendom.              Someone said to me today that "Someone had told them that Stephen Clark (me) had told them that when he retires he is not going to go to church."   I feel sure I was misunderstood....I do have a sense of Angst about just exactly where and how I will worship when I am not a parish priest....so much of what the church serves up....from the papal conclave down to the mere parish level on which I have always and only ever existed......is meant to be Christianity and is in fact a travesty. Boring, trite, hypocritical ....I could go on....
Hardly surprising that I  am losing interest in blogging about this. Once upon a time I felt energised by the battle, be it political, social or religious. But ......I some how think the world has passed this by.
So it's just as well no one reads my blog any way!


PS. Strange that within an hour of posting this particular entry I had two pieces of feedback.
Thanks to those of you who hang on my every word! :)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I sometimes wonder if I'll do a John, Donald and Ian (admiral clergy all) and return my license to the bishop when I retire. frsparky.

Stephan Clark said...

I don't want to do that....I don't understand my vocation to be a licensed clergyman...and feel sad that we live in a church which doesn't seem to understand that some how we should honour the vocation of those who have struggled to be faithful but who don't want to carry on with the crap

cecil said...

"The soul must become independent from the body.
The strong soul is not dependent on the outer life.
You should feel alone (independent being).
Embrace the isolation."
For when you do so you are free

Chris McLeod said...

Blogging is hard. I find it hard for all the reasons you mention, but over 7,700 people have read my blog and some have left comments. I promise myself that one day I will write much better stuff...maybe I will. Somehow, like ministry, it seems worth it. I hold onto the thought that the Kingdom of God is only ever caught in momentary glimpses. Sometimes we in the church get it right...just sometimes. Keep blogging, Stephen. I always read it!

Stephan Clark said...

Chris, I am just wondering if the blogosphere is shifting ...and I just don't get the Tweetosphere.
Have always been aware that more people read my sermon blog than hear it on Sundays!
And I've had of 55,000 view on this blog!!

Stephan Clark said...

Chris, I am just wondering if the blogosphere is shifting ...and I just don't get the Tweetosphere.
Have always been aware that more people read my sermon blog than hear it on Sundays!
And I've had of 55,000 view on this blog!!

SouthOzBloke said...

Your blogs give people pause to think and sometimes look at things from another perspective.
Blogger's block is something else altogether. My blogging has been spasmodic to say the least.
As Chris said Stephen, "Keep blogging,...I always read it!"