Westminster Confessions

Seems like I’ve had intellectual laryngitus when it comes to my blog. Lots going on, lots of thinking, lots of ideas, but nothing finding its way to my blog.

Part of this is probably due to my love/hate relationship with the blogosphere. I love that I can keep in touch, read what others are thinking, etc. But I am frustrated by the “black hole syndrom” that occurs at the keyboard all too often for some. If I don’t have my laptop muted I can almost hear the sucking sound (ok, ok, mixed metaphors, I know that black holes don’t make a sucking sound). But people do get (quite literally) sucked into a journey that leads from one blog to another, one post to another, until before you know it, the keyboard is clicking almost all through the night, and you are entranced by cleverly managed pixels. And it’s not that everything out there is junk. In fact, there’s just too much good stuff out there. It’s like having satellite TV. You no longer have the excuse that my mother used for limiting our television watching, “There’s nothing good on the TV, go outside!” With satellite TV you can find something good, worthwhile, educational, or intellectually stimulating to watch every minute of every day of your life. So, too, the blogosphere.

But, back to my voice. Writers and artists know about the inner voice that needs to find its way to expression. I’ve decided that my voice is not (primarily) one that utilizes words posted for posterity in public places. My voice is more and more returning to find its expression in artwork and images. I’m excited to be included as one of several artists in an upcoming (October) show of fine art. I’m saving my voice for that work. As I finish some pieces I will probably post a few photos.

However, I do know that Mark does find his own voice best expressed through his thoughtful writing. And I know he savors the comments left by people and the resulting conversations they generate. I hope that there will continue to be an audience for his thoughts even if the blogosphere continues its rate of doubling every 5 months. I’m grateful for the relationships he has found online (heck, we’re even getting together with a bunch of them this coming Friday) and for the conversations sparked by all the banter. So, I will temper any frustrations with the knowledge of the joy it brings Mark.

Postscript for friends and family:
I’m enjoying all my classes. I had to drop the Targums hour of my Aramaic class (due to some crazy tuition difficulties), but I was able to pick up a one hour independent study that I like even more: Readings in NW Semitic Inscriptions (looking at things like the Gezer Calendar, Siloam Inscription, etc.). I still get to learn Aramaic and work with syntactical analysis in the remaining two hours of Aramaic. My Modern Age church history class has had me digging out family records (good ol’ great¹⁰-grandfather, William Brewster and Rev. Anthony Stoddard, whose 1755 sermon we still have, and who is our genealogical link to Jonathan Edwards’ family) as we touched on the Puritans and other New England events as we set the stage for the Enlightenment and beyond. Old Testament History and Theology will have us taking a really close look at Gen 1-3 and other readings in the Pentateuch (this is another class where I enjoy using my “think-outside-the-box” spectacles). Psalms is a smaller class (around 20, I think) and will give us the opportunity not only to look at individual psalms, Hebrew poetry, and genre but also the shape and shaping of the entire Psalter and its place (and purpose) in the Canon of Scripture and redemptive-history. Mark and I share only one class together this semester (OTHT).

Hint to daughters: Send Pictures! I am in withdrawal.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 18th, 2005 at 9:29 pm and is filed under Academia, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.