I don’t typically make requests of people. I usually like to accomplish things on my own merit. I’m making an exception to my own rule just this once. Actually, it’s less of a request and more of a global giving of permission. I enjoy discussion and dialogue with other people. It shapes me in ways I usually don’t expect. As such, if you enjoy reading my thoughts here and, for those of you who have already signed up, if you enjoy Open Dialogue
and find it a valuable resource, please feel free to advertise both to others. In this case, the more participants, the better the discussion!
Tags: discussion, open-dialogue
I admit it. I periodically suffer from bouts of despondency. Truth be known, I’m actually very moody and wrestle with depression on a fairly regular basis. (And the fact that my wife can put up with me day after day makes me love her all that much more.)
One thing that consistently plagues me when I hit these low points is to wonder why I bother to write, why I join in on different discussions, both over on my new forum and here on Xanga. I find myself wondering if, in the long-run, it even matters, does it make a difference, is this deep passion of mine to think deeply on the things that seem to matter and then to share that with others just so much wasted effort and energy. I guess I often grow discouraged at the
seeming lack of interest, especially in our generation, in the things that matter most, in learning what it means to live this life in a way that pleases God and draws others to Him. Admittedly, I struggle along from day to day, and more often than not find myself doing exactly the opposite of what I know I should be doing, and yet I feel this deep, burning desire to still try to get it right.
All of what I do here on Xanga and at Open Dialogue is with the intent of getting it right and seeing others get it right, too. I read what some folks write and wonder what it is they live for, what drives them, what motivates them. And for others, it is very clear what it is they live for, and it either causes me to rejoice or to feel great sadness.
I write here to teach myself and to share with others what I am learning, with hopes that we can work on each other to become more like Christ. I love the discussions here and at Open Dialogue and with the people I talk to. But I am also discouraged at how few of us seem to actually have this desire to reflect Christ.
I will continue to try to meet people where they are, to take part in their thoughts and discussions, to help them see Christ just a little better. In the meantime, I will also continue my own journey, writing here and at Open Dialogue, and hope that others find it worth their time to join me.
Why do you write? What do you hope to accomplish? How have you already been changed?
Tags: blogging, depression, motivations, open-dialogue, Writing
For anyone who might be trying to access my site (http://www.open-dialogue.com/forum/index.php) without success right now, try this one: http://open-dialogue.com/forum/index.php. It’s the same, just without the www. prefix. For some reason the www. isn’t working, and I’ve emailed tech support to find out why. I’ll let you know when you can go back to using the www. prefix (if you want to).
[Edit] Huh…. it seems as though the problem may be an issue inside Mozilla Firefox because I just tapped the whole address into IE and it loaded with no problems. I’m still waiting to hear back from tech support, but dang if I’m not stupefied by that one.
[Edit-2] Yup, I heard back from tech support. Ironically enough, I was the only one having trouble accessing my own forum this afternoon, and it had nothing to do with the servers. As much as I love Mozilla Firefox, sometimes it can get real cranky. Turns out, all I had to do was close the browser and reopen it to clear up the problem. I still don’t know why it didn’t like the www. prefix. Either way, the forum is running smoothly, so c’mon over for a chat!
Tags: discussion-forum, open-dialogue
A brand new online discussion forum geared toward Christian discussion of relevant issues! Go check it out! It should be a whole lot of fun!
Tags: christianity, discussion-forum, open-dialogue, philosophy, theology
