This question comes from The Raven. It’s a good one.
OK, preacher-man, I guess I'll make a move here... If you are, in fact, a preacher, then you would be - by definition - "one who preaches," yes? In that sense you define yourself in terms of your function, much as a professor professes to know something, except that your mission is to guide, lead, herd, minister, and ecumenicalize. There are some in that line of work who start to feel disengaged from the broader world, they sense that they're too cloistered and they test themselves and their faith by actively engaging the outside world - particularly members of other faiths as well as non-believers. The idea, as these guys explain it to me, is that they'll eventually return to that more sheltered zone at some point, but do so armed with a more urbane knowledge. I was curious as to whether this was akin to your endeavor or if you're just blogging for the fun of casting digital loaves on the electronic sea?
First, I named the blog “Real, Live Preacher” because folks in Texas and the South call ministers “preacher”, as in “How you doing preacher?” Reducing someone to what they do is a way of dehumanizing them. “Hey Cop”, “Hey Teacher”, “Hey Preacher”. I had this funny picture in my head of a freak show barker shouting, “Come see a real, live preacher.”
Second, I think Raven is asking if I am “slumming” outside the confines of my beatific Christian world for some reason, maybe to see what real life is like before I run back to my comfortable, church existence. Fair Question.
No. I didn’t think this thing through enough to have much of an agenda.
Raven, I’m not exactly sure why I started this. I started writing because I wanted someone to listen to me. I started writing because the anonymity feels good. I started writing because I’m curious about other people’s lives. Having flipped through a few blogs, I wondered if folks might be curious about a pastor’s life. Let’s admit there is something voyeuristic about the whole blog experience.
If I look inside myself, I’m sadly aware that being the pastor often means not being honest with your doubts and fears. The flock expects the shepherd to be strong. I’m not always.
I think speaking to “you”, whoever you are, feels safe. I need a safe place to be myself. The blog is like a diary that someone might actually read. That possible connection to real people is nice, even if I never hear from them.
Why should anyone care to read about a Texas pastor's life? I haven’t a clue. That’s the mystery behind the blog experience, I think.
The mystery and the magic of it.
12:06:17 AM 
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