And that's just how hard it is . . .

. . . to be a blogger when you don't want to just throw any old thing up there. It's been a month and more since I thought I might start a little blog, if I had something that seemed worth saying, which this particular entry absolutely does not.

I read a lot of blogs. Some of them are a total waste of time, but I like the people who write them, so I read them to see what's going on with them. A few of them bring deeply insightful writing to the table. They make a rich meal -- sometimes satisfying, sometimes unsettling, because some of them challenge my thinking, my behavior, my worldview, my faith. I appreciate them. I learn from them.

The thing with this one is that I don't write like that. I don't think like that, at least not on my own. Pretty much every good or challenging or enlightening idea I talk about or use in my sermons, I find somewhere else. I'm much more an editor or compiler than an author. I can take a thought that I find, that strikes me as being worth thinking about and worth spreading to other people - - and I find a way to say it or explain it or expand on it some, and connect it to some other thoughts, so that they illuminate or expand on each other, and show deeper connections and behavior- or thought-changing importance.

But if I do that here, then this will be little more than, "Here's something I read today" again and again. I should rather just post links and say, "Go look at this."

So . . . I dunno. People tell me I'm pretty smart and pretty wise and communicate well and such. If so, then why can't I do this writing thing?

Really, what I do best is answer questions. Ask me something, and I can often start helping you make connections. Say, "I think this . . . what do YOU think?", and I can usually go for a good while. But that won't work here.

Maybe I'll figure it out by the time you next look in here.