Been pondering the Disputation's quotation from St. Dominic, who advises that we "act, with religious decorum, as men of the Gospel following in the footsteps of their Savior and speaking with or about God to themselves and their neighbor, being careful to avoid undue familiarity with others."
I doubt he'd be a fan of journals masquerading as blogs.
The "undue familiarity" struck me as especially interesting. St. Dominic's strategy would seem a way to lessen distractions and maintain charity, given that undue familiarity may lead to contempt or its opposite. And it is also strikingly counter-cultural in a day and age where we tend to let our hair down at the drop of a blog post. Nancy Nall sees this tendency as a generosity: "this is one reason I'm something of a fool for personal blogs, if they can sustain my interest (most can't) -- finding these little moments of real life that people are generous enough to share." But to what end? Or does there have to be one?
One of the blogs I read is something of a soap opera. I have to read between the lines a bit, which adds to the mystery (an element perhaps lacking in most personal blogs). But I think part of what makes it interesting is that she is on a spiritual quest and spiritual quests are inherently interesting. You root and pray for her to find the Church, just as you would root for the protagonist to slay the dragon. It gives hope to us all when progress is made.
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