See that? Up there ^^^! Come on, tell me you see it!
Oh? You don’t? I see. That’s because it’s gone.
No more weather report, and no more “Walking Report”. I figure the only one who really cares what the temperature is here in Las Cruces is me. And the only one who cares about my walking is me. I might decide to publish some kind of weekly summary, like “Between 11/24 and 11/30, I walked xx miles, or xx,xxx steps.”
As I reported Sunday morning, we went to a water park. Only it really isn’t so much a water park as a “family fun center”. They have lots of indoor games, laser tag, go carts, and some outdoor water activities. The kids had lots of fun. And the adults had a pleasant time chatting!
All day today, I hoped the clouds would lift long enough for us to get a picture of the snow covered peaks of the Organ Mountains. Unfortunately, if anything they seemed to settle more as the day went by. So, there’ll be no snowy mountain photos until tomorrow.
Now, I want to get a little serious. I hope you don’t mind. I started this blog nine and a half years ago. Back in the early days, it was called “MineAllMine”, and it was hosted by Blogger. I started off writing my own thoughts about faith and about God. Sometimes those thoughts were consistent with Christianity, and sometimes they divulged from that. By and large, of course, they were quite mainstream. And then, I allowed someone to get under my skin. They made a very valid point, but instead of my taking it into consideration, I let it shut the door to that part of me.
At some point, probably right around 2008, I switched my blog to a self-hosted WordPress blog, and changed the name to “On and Off the Road”. While “MineAllMine” was intended to be MY blog, and ONLY my blog, my hope, once it changed to “On and Off the Road”, was that Scott would be a part time contributor. And it would be used at least in part to report on our various trips in our RV. And in fact, I have done that. As you can tell, Scott is not all that interested in contributing, and that’s okay. I have toyed with the idea of inviting others to contribute, but I don’t think that will be happening, because it would mean me giving up control of my blog, and well, I’m a control freak when it comes to this!
Today at church (no, I’m not done with being serious) I got an idea about something I want to write, so I made note of it in my little notebook. As I was writing, though, I had a thought, “No, my audience probably won’t like that.”
You see, readers, I feel responsible for you all. I know that sounds really silly, but hey, that’s how it is. I want each of you to come back, and I want each of you to enjoy what you read here. I checked it out. There are 15 of you subscribed to receive email notice when a new blog comes out. I know two or three of you read my blog a lot, but you only know a new blog has posted when it shows up in Facebook. And a few others get notice through Twitter. And then, today at church at least two individuals told me they read my blog, and I can only assume they are either reading through Facebook or Twitter.
My point is, there are a lot more people reading my blog than I ever thought, certainly more than I anticipated. This is just STUNNING to me! And so I feel even more responsible TO you all, as well as FOR your all. I still want my writing to be enjoyable to you. Because you are all automatically hereby enrolled into “Ye Olde List of Friends of Eric Hays-Strom”.
But then, as I was making that note, and having that negative thought another thought came into my mind, and I really need to share it with you all, all you my friends. “Not writing about what I want to write about, and not writing about my faith, because writing about those things might drive people away is to me the same thing as self-assault.” That’s a pretty strong realization.
As I write this, I recall a conversation I had years ago with someone in the seminary, during the last months there. We were talking about whether I should stay in the seminary, or whether I should leave it to enter a relationship with Scott. The other person, a fellow seminarian, asked me two questions. “Do you love the priesthood enough to not become a priest?” And the second was “Do you love Scott enough to NOT have a life with him, if that is what he wants?”
Guess how I answered! I am in a similar situation now. And here’s what I have decided in today’s situation. I have discovered I love writing. I am enjoying writing my novel (though at my own pace, and not so much through the NaNoWriMo event) and I enjoy writing my blog. This may sound selfish, but I have to write what moves me. And so I am going to write what moves me, and I really really hope you all come along for the ride over the next months and years. And if I write something that offends, please don’t leave. Write me a note. Post a comment (Leave a fake name and email address if you need to) or drop me an email. If you check the “About” tab on FB, you’ll see my email address. My Twitter profile lists it too.
This means to those who are not religious, I may write about my faith and my religion. I may even do so a lot for protracted periods, but I won’t only write about it. I may write about my sexuality, and some of the stuff I write may be quite “Blue”. I’ll TRY to remember to put a warning about that close to the front of each post. I doubt it’ll get too blue, though. I do have a private side!
So, there you have it, my friends. Thanks for coming “On the Road” with me. I hope you stick around for the rest of the ride! You still mean a lot to me, and I will still feel responsible TO and FOR you.
So, God Bless!
DAILY GRATITUDE
I’m grateful, today, that God still speaks to me in a still, small voice. And I’m grateful for reminders to, as Polonius said “To thine own self be true…”
PRAYER INTENTIONS
“God seeks shalom at every level of life, from cells to community and nations. Our unique calling is to bring God’s shalom to our relationships and the world.” — Bruce G. Epperly
This week, no new tile. Please continue to pray for my brother, who is still in need of prayer, as he recovers from heart surgery. Thank you!
On The Road II 