A fool does not delight in understanding,
But only in revealing his own mind.
Proverbs 18:2 (NASB)
I'm new to the blogging experience, and so far, I have had quite a few urges to go back and edit the two posts I've put up so far.
On one hand, I think, "No, I'm going to leave what I blog in original form. I'll simply go back and reference the earlier blogs and clarify what I have already written."
Then I think to myself, "No, that's dumb. I don't want someone to read what I have written and misunderstand what I actually think or believe,"
so I feel the need to go back and revise. This problem has arisen because of my decision to blog stream-of-consciousness style in an attempt to be more "real" and "counter-cultural." I simply write what I think at the moment, like I would say what I'm thinking at the moment of having a conversation with someone. But these aren't conversations, now are they? They are blogs.
That's one difference between speaking and writing; when you write, your words are written down...I know, "duh." Stay with me. There isn't any body language, there aren't any tiny facial expressions to clue you in to sarcasm or sincerity, and there's no dialogue. There's no, "What do you mean by that," and "Let me clarify." There is simply the cold, hard black-on-white. And sometimes people aren't very forgiving when they can point to a sentence and say, "this is wrong," or "obviously they don't know what they are talking about."
And I know this. And I probably also have some writer's-pride (not good), which is why I keep having urges to revise in order to better represent what I believe to be true.
So already, my blog is morphing. I have two drafts in my blog-list as of the moment. I'm obviously not just thought-vomiting into the World Wide Web anymore. Which is a good thing. I don't know if I could ever say that "uncensored, unfiltered, unadulterated me" should ever be shared with anyone but God. Perhaps that's another misguided way of thinking that permeates our culture. That we should, at all times, seek self-disclosure. That we should, as a goal, strive to "express ourselves." That's what art is all about right? Wrong. At least I don't think so. Art is about expressing Truth. And if "ourselves" express Truth, then we are glorifying our Creator. And that is the goal. To glorify God and enjoy God (in that order), forever.
Modern Westerners have this idea that the arts are some high, lofty, ethereal, castle in the sky that only the elite weirdos visit. Or that they are optional, like forms of entertainment. Not so. Some Eastern cultures don't even have two separate words for "art" and "work." Art-work is what you do. Period. For that matter, liturgy is also what you do, but that's for another blog. In the early chapters of Genesis (4:19-22), music, agriculture, and technology are the three activities in which humans engage for life. Art is something you put your hand to, something you work on, something towards which you apply creative energy. And good art, as Ezra Pound would say, is truthful art.
But what about freedom of speech? I have a hunch that this issue is more about the freedom to express an individual's ideas about the common good than the freedom to express their self. Would it not be better to screen all expression with the questions: "Will this art-work edify?" "Will this art-work bring glory to God?" "Will this art-work express Truth?" And if the answer is no...well...
So what does this have to do with my blog? Well, maybe blogs are art, too. So, in my opinion, blogs should not be used to express oneself. How contemptuous. LORD knows this world doesn't need to know Matthew Lineberger in order to become a better place. My blog needs to express Truth. Obviously I'm writing it, so it will be Truth-as-I-see-it. So by sharing Truth-as-I-see-it, hopefully you, or someone, will start to seek Truth and find Him.
Should I go back and delete my previous posts? No. A record of process is good. And my purpose in writing hasn't changed; the questioning is still there. If by reading my blog, someone starts to ask important questions, then some good is done.
So there. You've read my first blog that I've actually done some work on. It's art-work, if you will. And, if you should ever return to this post, I might have done some more work on it...who knows?
To whomever reads this:
May the Triune Truth
invade your bubble today,
and if need be, burst it.
In Christ's name I pray, "Amen."
Love love love this. Arete: crafted. One of my teachers, Louise Phelps, has said about writing instruction that with writing, over time, you just get better: something happens. But you can't teach that, you can only assign writing so that students keep writing. But it's in the process of doing the writing that they learn.
ReplyDeleteI guess what I'm getting at here is the observation that she's probably right: there was no way, in the context of a freshman writing class, to help you see these things about writing and blogging back then, was there? It is because you have progressed as a thinker and as a writer, by means of writing, that you can see and say these things so clearly now.
I am loving every second of reading what you write. :)