First Steps

And so, it begins- my journey into the blogosphere.  I am taking the first step with a bit of fear and trepidation.  As a pastor, I have resisted blogging for several reasons.  First of all, I've thought the pastor's time was better spent doing tasks other than blogging (like sermon prep., praying, visiting...), and by the time you finish those chores you don't have much time or energy left for blogging.  And yet, I have also come to believe that the gospel belongs in the marketplace of ideas, even if it rests on the shelf of subversion.  Also, the longer I pastor, the more I treasure communal wisdom and dialogue with others.  Thus, blogs have begun to appeal to me in those ways.  Secondly, I have been slow to blog because of the nature of the medium.  To blog, all one needs is a computer.  Wisdom, training, experience, factuality, and truth telling are all optional.  Many blogs are the child of a fool and a hard drive.  For quite some time, I've wondered if blogs- along with other forms of social media- are truly conducive for meaningful dialogue.  Can the keyboard convey our passion?  Can Facebook articulate the nuances of our beliefs in one wall conversation?  Is a cyber-community more cyber than community?  While I have no answers to these questions, I have been moved by other blogs which opened like oases in the desert.  Dr. Roger Olsen, Rachel Held Evans, Dr. Tom Ogburn, and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship all maintain blogs that have challenged my thinking, nurtured my faith, and guided my journey.  They have revived my hope that social media can be a tool in the hand of God.

And so, even though I step with fear and trepidation- I step.  My sincere hope is that you find this blog to be sacred cyberspace.  I hope this blog cultivates imagination while sharpening the rationale; illumines the culture around us while exploring the Mystery above us; and wrestles with deep questions while not settling for trite answers.  My requirement is that we all communicate in love, listening to alternative opinions and valuing the other (whomever the other might be).  As the old saying goes, "None of us are smarter than all of us," so let us value each perspective, recognizing that God's truth always transcends our grasp of it.

I have titled my blog, "The Bright Field," after my favorite poem of R.S. Thomas.  Reading Thomas loosens my soul from its grave clothes and calls me out into newness of life.  This particular poem is no different.  It reminds me to see the sacred in the ordinary and the holy in each moment.  To that end, I hope you find this blog as something of a bright field yourself.

Preston