Although it wasn't by design, it's good to take a step away from things that are important to you at times so as to see them more clearly. If you are like me, becoming personally invested in a thing colors your lenses, so to speak, preventing you from evaluating them clearly. So it is with this blog. Having some time away gives me a bit of a perspective on where I am with the site and where I want to go. Also, in keeping with the grand tradition of laying out goals for the new year which one has no intention of keeping, I'm feeling somewhat evaluative lately (although my intentions certainly are to follow through). So, with that in mind, I want to share some of my reasons for continuing to write and what I'd like to talk about in the near future, and invite you to come along for the journey.

In honesty, I almost decided to stop doing the site after the spam attack. It was an absolute mess. But one positive thing came out of it - I thought again about why I started to do this and came away with a new sense of purpose. I started this site to engage in conversation with other people who are thoughtful and invested in doing God's deeds and thinking God's thoughts, and I've made some great friends doing so. I also wanted a place to think out loud and have others who would tell me that I'm either onto something or on something, so to speak. Finally, I wanted to write regularly so as to improve my writing skills. I think that theopraxis has, for me, become all of these things, and I would miss it dearly. So where to go next?

First, I want to get back to Mark. I stopped at the end of Mark 4, not on purpose but rather because Real Life overwhelmed me at the end of last semester. I'd actually like to be more regular about it, so expect to see an excerpt from Mark every Monday. If we finish Mark (when I did Mark with my youth group it took eight months), I'll move on to something else - I'm currently leaning towards one of the prophetic books, but that will no doubt change.

Other things I'm thinking about that I want to spend some time on include a discussion on the nature and role of theology and an approach to Scripture. I also hope to continue to write creatively and imaginatively as the occasion warrants.

That's quite an agenda I think! I'm looking forward to writing more, conversing more, listening more, and learning more, and you are welcome to be a part of my journey.