I realize that New Years Day is actually kind of an artificial construct. There really is nothing magical about turning the page to a new calendar when it comes to how we organize and discipline our daily lives. But sometimes an artificial construct is useful in getting us to change our behavior.
In that light, I would like to approach 2011 as a new start in how I approach my online interactions. Several years ago, when I made my first attempt at learning to think online, I christened this blog "Variations on a Theme", with the idea of discussing various aspects of what it means to me to be a Christ follower.
With that theme in mind, I want to attempt to blog my thoughts as I read a book specifically about being a Christ follower. The book is Eugene Peterson's The Jesus Way: a conversation on the ways that Jesus is the way. I started reading this book on one of my trips sometime in 2010, but I didn't get very far. Now seems like a good time to pick the book back up, and I think I will benefit from the discipline of "thinking on paper" as I read it.
I don't have a clear vision of what blogging through this book will look like. I definitely don't expect it to be neat, well thought out outlines of each chapter. Often my best way to think through something I'm reading is to grab hold of some of the key thoughts as they come and basically wrestle with them for a while.
One of the key thoughts in the parts of this book that I have previously read is the importance of a conversation. To quote Peterson: "I intend the term "conversation" to be taken quite literally - a back and forth between the writer and reader. Matters of spiritual theology in general, and the spirituality of the ways of our Lord taken up in this conversation, are not categorically precise and cannot be pinned down with formulaic definitions or prescriptions. There are ambiguities that can be worked out only in prayer and practice on the way."
I know that such a conversation may take a while to develop. When you haven't written in your blog in over 18 months, there will be no one around, and least for a while, to have a conversation with. So for now I will probably be talking to myself. But if you do happen to read this, I would love for this to be a real conversation. So I invite you, friend, to walk along with me as we think about the ways that Jesus is the way.