Blogging and spiritual disciplines

Surfing the web this morning, I came across a blog called The Spyglass, where Rob asks “In what ways can you use blogging as a spiritual discipline?” As I was already thinking about blogging and at least one particular spiritual discipline (which is how The Spyglass popped up in my search results), I decided it was a good question to spend some time thinking about.

I don’t think I could quite say I see blogging as a spiritual discipline, but it certainly offers opportunities to practice certain spiritual disciplines – and opportunities of temptation that must be avoided lest I neglect other spiritual disciplines. I can think of more ways to answer this question than I have time to write up tonight – and one tempation I need to avoid is staying up too late blogging, neglecting sleep, time with my sons, and time with God.

I started this blog in part to improve my focus on study. I like being a student, whether in a formal educational program or informally studying on my own. But I had noticed that the time I spent reading (anything except blogs) had decreased, and while crossword puzzles are a good workout for my brain, they teach me little except words that are useful for solving crossword puzzles. By having the self-imposed goal of posting once a day, I push myself to learn – or at least think about – something new each day.

Richard Foster, in his book Celebration of Discipline, teaches that it is important to study not only Scripture and classics of Christian literature but also to observe “reality in things, events, and actions.” I have always enjoyed observing nature, but I have never been as good at observing human beings (largely because I am an introvert and find it tiring to be among lots of people, but energizing to be alone surrounded by grass, trees, and sky). I have never taken a great interest in following the news either, whether in print or broadcast form. I try not to be ignorant of major events (though I have to admit I rather prided myself on being ignorant of nearly all that went on in O.J. Simpson’s trial), but I have never understood the compulsion of the news junkie to watch the evening news.

Blogging gives me that little push to find out more about the world, about how people think and feel about things, to check the day’s news, to read books about topics of importance – as well as reading and studying Scripture. I want to find something of interest to me each day, something that I hope will also be of interest to at least some of you who read this. And any interaction with you helps me learn more about how others see things, and perhaps how to communicate better.

Besides posting here, I have for a few years regularly read – and occasionally commented on – World on the Web (previously worldmagblog). As it gets a lot more traffic and some very heated arguments, I get to observe a lot of interaction between people. Some responses are predictable. Others surprise me. I see examples I want to follow – and those I want to avoid.

One spiritual discipline that WoW provides lots of opportunities to practice is silence. Richard Foster writes: “One of the fruits of silence is the freedom to let God be our justifier. We don’t need to straighten others out.” If I think I have been misunderstood, I may try to clarify what I meant. But I find that a prolonged attempt to show how my argument is correct is generally fruitless, and promotes defensiveness, self-justification, and pride more than compassion for the person I am arguing with. (My rule is to avoid the word “you” as much as possible, as it usually is connected with making unwarranted assumptions about someone else.)

To be continued…