Writing on the Way

Today I’m writing on my smartphone. Normally I only use my phone for notes, and especially voice memos, but I haven’t been posting enough and the phone is always with me, so it’s time to learn something new.

I’m writing on the way to learning to be a better parent. I saw an interview the other day which really got me thinking about how I parent. The video was about agency, not parenting per se, but it helped me to see a missing piece. Still working out what it means, but the new direction has been a breath of fresh air.

I’m writing on the way to theological community. One of the persistent struggles since seminary has been finding a theological place to belong. In seminary, I found people with similar interests, and even though we had diverse backgrounds, we could work together. But since then I have found myself a “free grace” guy in a lordship church, a baptist in a CRC town, a traditionalist in a modern church, and a conservative in progressive times. I have been challenging my assumptions, trying to make sure that our differences are worth preserving. And the process is teaching me much about the role of doctrine and how to deal with objections. Soon I expect to post articles that will draw lines that may eventually put most of my friends on the outside of one or another stance. Without a stable theological community, this is a foreboding thought, but I am ready to accept whatever comes.

I’m writing on the way to music, of all things. I starting to let music back into my life last year when the lockdowns began, and the time away from writing and playing has done me good. I’m fixing songs I used to be stuck on, finishing projects that have been open for many years, and finding inspiration for new work for the first time in a a very long time. Not sure what God is doing here, but the idea of teaching theology through music is not lost on me.

I’m writing on the way to new professional projects. In the past month I went from mostly church projects to a resurgence of university projects. I’m grateful, and they have been good for me, but I do feel the loss of freedom to pursue my own studies.

I recognize this part isn’t very substantive, and that it’s more of a journal entry than anything, but the point was to write anything, so from that standpoint it’s a success.

Still letting the perfect get in the way of the good, I suppose. But I was also reminded yesterday that while I want to share everything I’m learning and make things to help others, simply studying is good on its own. it doesn’t have to be shared to be worth my time. I don’t have to squeeze every ounce of utility out of an act.