Hi, my name is Mike and I’m a blogaholic.”

(Altogether now) - “Hi, Mike!”

I did something over the weekend I’ve needed to do for a long time: I pared my list of blogs to visit. Yes, I recognize that this is considered a sign of backsliding by some (Baptists), loss of blogging by others (Arminians), and proof that I never really was a blogger to begin with (Reformed RSDEPers - that just doesn’t roll off the tongue like TULIP, does it?). But it was necessary.

I was spending far too much time in two activities: writing posts for a small but appreciative (usually) audience; cruising and reading the blogs of almost every believer who’s ever had at least one good post. So I cut it down, from maybe 20-25 regularly frequented blogs + 25-30 occasionally read blogs to a mere 10. And, as far as posting on my own blog goes, I’ve decided not to come up with posts or react to what else is being said unless the Muses truly come upon me. (Can I refer to “Muses” and still be a Christian?)

I know the visits to Eternal Perspectives will decrease even more than they already have (I average what now? 30 or so a day?) but so what? It’s not like there’s going to be a huge hole left in cyberspace - which, come to think of it, is really nothing more than a hole anyway. I’d rather read the 10 blogs I’ve settled on and maybe make a comment from time to time. Or send an email for an even more surreptitious influence. And wait for the Muses.

I must admit, though, that I’ve been more than a little discouraged by what seems to generate traffic. If I were to engage in some select sycophancy or narcissistic ranting, I’m sure I could improve my numbers. Or if I were to intentionally become controversial, adversarial, and unorthodox - in pretense, of course - my numbers would likely jump. Being a suck-up or a whipping boy = big numbers most of the time. If you’ve been around the BoG for awhile, you know who’s who.

What discourages me more, however, are the posts that don’t generate traffic or comments: the ones that are about books of the Bible (like the series I did on Jonah) or theological matters (such as the attributes of God). Those, I suppose, just result in yawns and quick clicks to other, more temporal posts. I’ve never been much for “what’s happening now.” There seems to be a ubiquitous disdain or disinterest in exegesis, exposition, or theology - not that I’ve done a whole lot of that. The lack of interest discourages me.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’d rather read someone’s ideas about the Book of Romans than about the nascent church and its afterbirth. I’m a Bible or theological nerd, I guess.

For those of you who care about such things, I have kept my links to all the good blogs out there so don’t be concerned about your TTLB numbers dropping by a total of 1. I’ll visit from time to time when something of interest grabs me - I still scan the BoG several times a week.

So that’s where I am: trying to get the blogging monkey off my back and to return to some semblance of a real, personal, tactile life. Oh, wait: I’ve never had that kind of life anyway! Well, to get back to whatever.

Thanks for stopping by.


2 Cor 1.13