In the end, it wasn’t blogging itself that was the problem, nor me as a writer, nor even the fact that hardly anyone read the thing (ok, that had something to do with it). It just took me a while to realise I just didn’t want to do the things I was trying to do with this blog. I had a go, tries a few things, and now I lay down the beautiful, failed experiment and wish you well with your own blogs and lives and things.

He will be great
 and will be called the Son of the Most High,
 and the Lord God will give Him
the throne of His father David.
 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever,
 and His kingdom will have no end.  Luke 1:32-33

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you’re well and celebrating the true meaning behind this precious day. I guess my prayer is that you won’t see the busyness, commercialism, weird relatives arriving and gaudy popification of carols as a reason to become cynical and hard, as so many do, but instead rejoice at this – that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, that we might see his glory, full of grace and truth. He was born that day that he would die our death, take up the throne of God’s Kingdom, and bring us out of spiritual darkness into and under his good rule. I definitely know that without him the dark night of my heart was black indeed – but a light has defiinitely dawned. I pray that’s true of you too.

God bless, have a safe and happy one.

C.S. Lewis

…interesting…

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;
   As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
   Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
   Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
   Selves – goes itself: myself it speaks and spells,
Crying What I do is me: for that I came.

I say more: the just man justices;
   Keeps grace: that keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is -
   Christ. For Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, in eyes not his
   To the Father through the field of men’s faces.

Gerard Manly Hopkins

love your work

R

C.S. Lewis

Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few.

I saw this quote recently and it resonated with me. But even so, I’m back. For now. Perhaps I’m actually a bit of a masochist. Perhaps I truly believe that my thoughts will make some deep and eternal impact on someone. Probably I got seduced by a new background theme. Still, dumping all previous attempts to generate a vibrant, high turnover blog with a large and engaged ‘readership’ which led to many, many trivial and even stupid and rude posts I regret (and many more half-drafts), I will have one more go at the venerable role of social scribe, despite the cynical jibes of my friend with his succesful blog, attempting to put what thoughts I have to words whenever it is impressed on me to do so, which at the very least will be helpful to me and, who knows, perhaps to you too.

Don’t laugh, Pete.

- Billy Bray