This post may be a kind of behind the curtain post, but I have been thinking on some things. A recent conversation with a group including Aaron Simmons brought up some thoughts in writing. That conversation underlined some of my own thoughts. On its face, writing as a medium is not the coolest thing these days. Although Substack is making a splash with writers and helping build communities, it is nowhere near as flashy or popular as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and other long and short form video. But writing has a place that cannot be filled by video, especially fast paced and short sound bite style videos.
In the conversation I mention above and in my previous essay on Discernment, Aaron mentioned two things which sparked thoughts that have been rolling around my head. Aaron has been asking his students to write more. This is to slow them down and provide an opportunity to consider ideas more deeply. This idea resonates with my own thoughts about writing and reading; two pursuits I still immensely enjoy. It is why I moved to Substack as a host because it offered the opportunity to write, but also to read other writers with a variety of viewpoints and interests.
Writing slows you down. It is harder to jump around and rapid fire when you must use words that are written out or typed. Writing is just not as fast as speaking into a camera or in a room. Writing slows down the collaborative process, but it allows for thought and time to reflect. It also forces any responses to be measured as you must read the words before you can respond. But writing can also help us form ideas and work out our thoughts.
Which brings me to the other idea that Aaron shared and it immediately sparked my own thoughts. This is the idea that we can write to work out our own thoughts. The minute Aaron said that he works out his thoughts through writing, I thought; well, me too. That is what I am doing on this Substack a decade after the supposed death of blogs. Am I always correct in my thinking? No, but I hope I am honestly working out ideas that are important to me. Ultimately, that is why I write.
I was considering how I could get more views and a larger audience if I had a regular video presence. but that is not why I do this. Honestly, most of my writing is aimed at working out ideas for myself, and I don’t worry about the number of views or reads that any essay gets. If I did care, I would write less about pop culture and theology. Instead, I would write those essays that get me several hundred or a thousand views. But those are negative or in opposition to a particular sectarian impulse in my denomination. While those get me a lot of views, they are not really as worthy of my finitude as other ideas. While those essays are important and highlight issues, they do not matter as much as getting the good and faithful ideas that counter the negative out. The good stories are superior to the bad stories.
Writing may appear a solitary art form, but it can be deeply communal. One thing about innovators, geniuses, and others is that they rarely have completely new ideas. Instead, they see connections that others may not. Those connections may be between similar ideas or disparate ideas, but connections and threads can be followed toward insight and revelation. My friends may spark a thought in which I pull on a thread that unravels into an essay. I’ll cite you if it is flattering, but I may also protect the innocent with the trite “a friend said...”
I asked ChatGPT a question about me recently. Consider that I tried a Dungeons and Dragons solo campaign through ChatGPT; and I asked the model to help me hone lesson plans on books I have been teaching to adults in my local church. Here is that interaction.
Me: “what do you know about me that I might not know about myself based on our past interactions?”
ChatGPT: “From our past interactions, I know you’re studying theology and have a keen interest in works like Mildred Wynkoop’s *A Theology of Love* and Brent Peterson’s *The Church*. You also enjoy fantasy, as shown by your involvement in D&D with an elf rogue character who has a charming trickster personality.
You might not realize how these two interests—theological study and fantasy role-play—could shape your creative and intellectual approach. Your mix of analytical thought (from theology) and imaginative play (from D&D) suggests that you’re both reflective and inventive, potentially blending these traits into how you navigate complex ideas and interactions.”
I wonder how it would review the body of work on this Substack? It would see a wider interest in fiction to include sci-fi, Tolkien, mystery, comics, and a wide range of music. But even though its insights might seem spot on, do they really reveal who I am as much as my own words that I work out? The reflective and inventive traits come out in personality tests as well, so maybe that is a good reflection. I hope you sense a playfulness even in the seriousness. Maybe some of what I come up with is absurd, but I truly enjoy it.
Maybe my own life lived out in vocations of technology and of ministry reveals the eclectic as well. But I hope I bring perspective and thoughtfulness to both. They can cross over more than you imagine. So I will continue to write while engaging ideas of my friends, my detractors, and many others. Because writing has given me a voice and helped me work out a lot of inner thought. It has also given me a confidence to engage the ideas of others in direct ways. It has given me the confidence to engage thinkers, creators, and others directly to learn and expand my circle of influence ever wider. Take a look at my recommended Substacks and you may find something you have not encountered before. It is eclectic, but I promise each recommendation will provide interesting content. A caveat: I do not always agree with the totality of content on my recommendations, but I do value those contributions to the community.