Improving My Own Unfinished Story. Offline.

[This continues from the 3rd of a 4-part reflection on biographies...]

Three blogs on three celebrities and their stories. My name and story are virtually unknown, however. Ditto that for my blog, which spans six years now. What say we for 2015? A Sabbath rest? Or perhaps a peaceful death.

As I examine my life of late, I feel a growing sense of dissatisfaction and dis-ease — frequently when it seems I have invested my time poorly. There are trade-offs between writing a good story (or trying to, anyway) and living one. I think it's time for me to focus more intently upon the latter.

That's not to say there wasn't value in blogging. Some of my blogs have really helped me (and occasionally others) to think things through or see things in a new way. Nor is it to say that my life's in a bad place. It's not. But we cannot examine too closely how we use our time, and too often my blogging hobby has crowded out other things of greater importance.

Time to cut back. Two activities, to be specific. These words illuminate:

"All his discourse was upon God and the Holy Scriptures. When any in his presence spoke of worldly affairs, he never (unless necessity required) opened his mouth, having no desire of such knowledge. But where conversation turned upon God and heavenly things, his words flowed like a stream from an inexhaustible fountain."

Thus wrote a contemporary of Thomas à Kempis. Two things stand out.

First, Thomas avoided knowledge of the trivial. Me? Not so much. Why else do I know about Bill Cosby's recent travails in such detail? Why else do I know that Angelina's movie had a $65M budget or that she needs a better father figure in her life? If I could remove worthless trivia from my head, I'd be three pounds lighter. It's time (again) for an internet news/trivia diet.

Second, Thomas left us a treasure trove of spiritual gems. In what limited time I have, I'd like to focus more on appreciating and internalizing gems like his than on trying to cut and polish new ones of my own.

Thomas. Bonhoeffer. Hammarskjöld. All on the same journey, but so far ahead. I'd love to catch up with them, but the gap won't narrow until I slow down. I'd love to travel with them and, with God's help, to make my story more like theirs. To, like them, become more like Jesus Christ.

I began my first blog with the observation that my literary efforts were not in high demand. I end my last blog with the observation that nothing has changed since then on that front. Yes, it will be a quiet death for my blog.

But hopefully my story will improve.