Finding My "Voice"

So today is the end of the 21 day exercise. I'm not sure if I've firmly reestablished the habit of posting something in this space with a greater degree of frequency or not. I have decided to extend my personal challenge and attempt another 21 consecutive posts.

As I scroll back through the past three weeks, I can see a certain unevenness in the work...some days, I'm too tedious. Most days, I'm too long-winded (occupational hazard, I suppose). Perhaps the entries have been "too personal". Or maybe "too introspective". Some days it's obvious that I've waited far to late in the day to attempt anything requiring coherence!

For those of you unfamiliar with my self-imposed content parameters, here they are:

1. I will, for the most part, steer away from partisan politics. Whenever I post about current events, I attempt to reflect upon them from a Gospel perspective (as I currently understand it). This is why there was no comment upon the SOTU (State of the Union) speech earlier this week. Given our current political climate, I wasn't sure there was anything I could write that wouldn't be misconstrued by persons from either side of our two-party aisle.

2. I don't usually comment upon issues within the Episcopal Church/Anglican Communion -- for much the same reasons as listed above, and because there are plenty of people already flooding the blogosphere with their understandings (and misunderstandings) about ecclesial goings-on. To be honest, I don't read much Episcopal Church news these days. I find this practice has made me a much happier clergy person! Besides, I've discovered that being informed about the latest controversy, or downward statistical trend, or political intrigue (yes we certainly have those in abundance in Episco-world!) doesn't necessarily lead to any clearcut action(s) I might be able to take to make some change in whatever the "issue" is. I'm not supporting willful disengagement, but I am spending time attempting to determine the difference between real engagement and the supposed engagement one might feel by virtue of simply being "informed".

3. I don't administer Trinity Church through this space. While I will certainly share anecdotes about the parish, they are not for the purpose of attempting to leverage influence upon what may/may not be happening within this parish community.

Unfortunately, these self-imposed parameters seem to have painted me into a corner so that the reader is left with the randomness of my thoughts on any particular day. I'm attempting to be patient with myself as I seek to find my writer's voice. For those of you who visit this page from time to time, I'd count it a great honor if you would be patient with me as well (and don't hesitate to let me know when/how this effort could be improved).

I've heard from a few people that they have difficulty posting comments. If this applies to you, please e-mail me directly at garybriton@gmail.com and I will post your comments (should you desire it) to the blog so that others can read them and the conversation can be expanded.

See you tomorrow.

Sent from my iPad