Cyber-Koinonia

First, some props back to Richard Hall and Matt Brown. Let's start with Richard's sixth blogaversary post last last month; I've been too tied up with my anxiety issues and teaching to comment properly.

There have been lots of other friends along the way of course, and I’ve been irritating many of them since ‘the early days’: Mark Byron, Randy McRoberts, Bene Diction and Craig Schwarze are the ones that leap to mind. It’s an odd thing, but three of those four are folk I’ve had (and have!) significant disagreements with and yet I don’t remember any of our exchanges getting beyond the ‘robust-but-friendly’. Either my memory is faulty, or they’re all soft! Most of Christian blogdom is rather further to the right than I am, both politically and theologically, and one of the joys of blogging for me has been the conversations that have been possible across these divides.

That list of four reminds me of another feature of blogging that I’ve particularly enjoyed. Look closely, and you’ll see that it’s a little list that spans the world. Two from the US, a Canadian and an Aussie. Through their blogs, they’ve given a little window into their lives: joy, sorrow, pain, hope and the rest. And because of that sharing, I’ve been able to see their countries through their experiences. Not just theoretical issues, but real people whose opinions and beliefs have been shaped by their circumstances. I’m certain that they’ve led me (and others) to a deeper understanding of their cultures. Conversation can do that when it’s allowed to happen, and I’m grateful for it.

Richard and Bene are a few notches to my left theologically and a bit less so to my left politically, yet those two are two of my better friends in the Blogosphere. They may overmajor in grace and under-emphasize righteousness at times, but that grace has been abundantly applied when I've been down in these last six years. When you're struggling, you need compassion more than conservative orthodoxy from your friends; both would be nice, but you don't get too many warm fuzzies out of a Solo Scriptura discussion.

Meanwhile, to Matt Brownnoser's paean to this site, partly in praise of this Cedarville piece-

I'm surprised that Mark Byron isn't a bigger light in the blogosphere. I don't know what his traffic numbers are, but I'm sure that whatever they are, they're not high enough. He's been in the blogging game for several years, and his posts are thoughtful and well-written. I especially enjoy his Edifier du Jour series. If you're not a regular reader of his blog, you really need to become one. (And, Mark, I'm not saying all this just because you've been a faithful reader of mine since nearly my beginning. Truly, I'm not...)

Well, everyone deserves a fanboy or two just to give your ego a boost now and then.

I'm still wondering how Matt calls himself a Democrat when he seems to be with the Republicans on the issues more often than not. However, I was once a registered Democrat myself, even a delegate to county and district conventions. Not everyone's comfortable with the GOP. More on that part later.

Comments

[Richard Hall]

>> "When you're struggling, you need compassion more than conservative orthodoxy from your friends; both would be nice, but you don't get too many warm fuzzies out of a Solo Scriptura discussion."

Someone said to me recently that they couldn't imagine God condemning someone for being too campassionate. I reckon that's spot-on.
Thanks for your friendship over the years.

[Richard Hall]

Since I posted that last comment I've been trying to remember where I heard that 'too much compassion' line, and it's been bugging me. Now I've remembered it'll make me feel better to tell you that I read it on PamBG's blog.

[Matt Brown]

I'm probably more of a DINO than anything else. The Democratic platform is more sympathetic to the poor and the mentally ill, which is probably the only reason why I consider myself as one. I'm prolife in the classical sense as well as the Jim Wallis "prolife for ALL of life" sense, except when it comes to the death penalty (of which I approve).