CONTRATIMES' HIATUS EXPLAINED (partly)
My dear readers,
Without any explanation or alerts, I closed this blog several weeks ago. Quite a few of you contacted me about gaining access to what appeared to be an invitation-only website. Unfortunately Blogger does not have a simple "Closed for Self-Reflection" sign that one can post on the front door; no amount of invitations would have helped anyone gain access here. The door was shut, and Blogger automatically tossed up the invite-only shingle.
I am quite torn about blogging. I wrote to some of you about why I had withdrawn. It was interesting to learn how many of you understood my position but felt I should continue despite my concerns, my self-doubts. I appreciate not only everyone's kind words, but also the sincere interest everyone has in what I do here and even who I really am. Thank you. And thanks for being patient with me.
My prevailing sense is that I am adding to the epidemic of distraction coursing through society. Our many forms of digital media have created, in my opinion, a culture of shallowness. We have become skimmers, no longer able to be, or caring to be, deeply and intentionally attentive (or so I fear). Readers who have been reading Contratimes since the beginning know that I've worried about this since I first clicked the "Publish Post" icon. But a book I recently read (and highly recommended to several of you) informs what I've just written here (in fact, I am probably lifting whole phrases). For a very good read, please check out Maggie Jackson's Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age. It is a very compelling work (though imperfect). I cannot recommend it highly enough. While I have reservations about Ms. Jackson's final chapter, and while I wish she had more completely explored the perils of the impending dark age, I can say that, for me, the book is powerful, trenchant, and engaging. It offers great food for thought. I would love to hear what you all think after reading it for yourselves.
All this to say that I am thinking about Being again. And I am also thinking about when God is lost in sound.
Peace, always.
BG
Without any explanation or alerts, I closed this blog several weeks ago. Quite a few of you contacted me about gaining access to what appeared to be an invitation-only website. Unfortunately Blogger does not have a simple "Closed for Self-Reflection" sign that one can post on the front door; no amount of invitations would have helped anyone gain access here. The door was shut, and Blogger automatically tossed up the invite-only shingle.
I am quite torn about blogging. I wrote to some of you about why I had withdrawn. It was interesting to learn how many of you understood my position but felt I should continue despite my concerns, my self-doubts. I appreciate not only everyone's kind words, but also the sincere interest everyone has in what I do here and even who I really am. Thank you. And thanks for being patient with me.
My prevailing sense is that I am adding to the epidemic of distraction coursing through society. Our many forms of digital media have created, in my opinion, a culture of shallowness. We have become skimmers, no longer able to be, or caring to be, deeply and intentionally attentive (or so I fear). Readers who have been reading Contratimes since the beginning know that I've worried about this since I first clicked the "Publish Post" icon. But a book I recently read (and highly recommended to several of you) informs what I've just written here (in fact, I am probably lifting whole phrases). For a very good read, please check out Maggie Jackson's Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age. It is a very compelling work (though imperfect). I cannot recommend it highly enough. While I have reservations about Ms. Jackson's final chapter, and while I wish she had more completely explored the perils of the impending dark age, I can say that, for me, the book is powerful, trenchant, and engaging. It offers great food for thought. I would love to hear what you all think after reading it for yourselves.
All this to say that I am thinking about Being again. And I am also thinking about when God is lost in sound.
Peace, always.
BG
Posts
5 comments:
The Internet can be an instrument for attention rather than distraction. We make it a distraction far too often.
Thank you for the links to your earlier reflections. Later, in the stillness of the evening, after the business of the day, I'll spend some quiet time with those words.
Welcome back, Bill. You are missed.
Bill,
I understand your thinking. I've often wondered about the noise in my life and the effect it has on me. I've not formed any conclusions yet--though I become more aware of it from time to time.
Ironically, one of the reasons I miss your blog most is that your thoughtful and in-depth posts were something that forced me to slow down and think about what you were saying, rather than gulping it in a sentence at a time like I do most material on the web. For at least this person, I think if you were a distraction, it was a healthy and enriching one.
I can respect and understand whichever way you decide. May God grant you wisdom and insight for His will!
Hi Bill-
There was a good editorial in the Atlanta Journal Constitution (I read it today but don't know what day it was published) regarding the masses of today's college students who cannot think for themselves or delve deeply into any thought-full learning...
Sometimes I get very tired of the sounds of motors, the hum of the PC, the glare of screens and the blinking lights, and I like to turn everything off-
grind my grain and knead my bread with my own muscles, or sit down and write- physically write, with a pen- in one of my many notebooks!
The trick is finding the balance between the useful and the unhelpful, I think.
Anyway, I'm glad you're back! I missed you, and since we can't gather around Louise's kitchen table these days, I like catching you here!
Blessings and peace,
Jill
hi bg
just came by to say hello.
don't get carried away with the blog worries. it is just like anything else. what matters is where your heart is.
Post a Comment