Why blog?

Bethany was in a meeting this past week and the Dean of the Chapel asked her why her coterie of bloggers blogged when they spent so much time together anyway. She and I talked about this in the car on the way home that day and came up with two reasons.

First of all, blogging expands the circle. I, for example, was not privy to the discussions in the worship apprentice office but I could take part in some of the talk by reading the blogs and by starting my own. I am grateful that this group of young people welcomed me into their loosely defined blog-ring and encouraged me (or at least didn’t discourage me) from participating in the discussions.

A second, equally important reason, though, is that writing and talking are different things and the act of writing can result in more carefully thought-out arguments or discussions. I like that notion of using my blog to think through some things as I write them. The fact that there is, apparently, an audience is an important part to helping me try to write better – I’m actually writing for readers.