Twenty years of blogging here

It was 20 years ago today, 16 August 2005, that I first began this effort. I logged into the computer located in the office I shared with the parochial vicar in the rectory of The Cathedral of the Madeleine and started on a Tuesday afternoon. This blog first bore the title Scott Dodge for Nobody. I cribbed that name from a Sunday night radio program on local community radio (i.e., Tom Waits for Nobody).

As accustomed as I have become to using it, the verb "blogging" is bad enough. Therefore, I will resist celebrating my twentieth "blogiversary." How's that for backhanded?

My first post was "Intelligent Design- Religion & Politics." Over the next twelve days, this was followed by five more posts along these same lines. I had no idea what I was doing other than writing about something that had my attention at the time.

I won't forget how amazed I was at the ease of starting a blog and transmitting what I wrote to the "world wide web," as it was called much more frequently then than it is now. Such a capability is now so normal that the wonder and awe I felt 20 years ago seems naïve if not a bit stupid. Nonetheless, it remains a mind blowing experience for me. I was also intimidated.

I felt intimidated because I didn't think I had anything to write that was worth anyone's time. And so, after those five intial posts, I posted nothing until "How Occasional?" on 19 July 2006. It was then that I renamed my blog Καθολικός διάκονος. It was with that post that I began blogging in earnest.

While I was ordained in January 2004, my blogging is roughly coterminus with becoming a deacon. Since my earnest commencement (i.e., 2006), I have felt this to be part of ministry. Bear in mind that "ministry" is another word for service or diakonia. Perhaps this at least partly explains why, 20 years later, I'm still at it.

I care deeply about what I post. I don't aim to be spectacular or novel. Since this a labor of love, I don't have to be controversial or over-the-top to gain readers. As those who've read this blog for years know, I have wandered down a couple of paths before turning around. Even those By God's grace, were not fruitless forays. More and more I am realizing Eugene Peterson's wisdom in insisting that following Christ is "a long obedience in the same direction."

From 2007-2015, I blogged like a madman! I wrote about anything and everything. But I enjoyed it and learned a lot. Frankly, it was one of the best educational experiences I've ever had. Those were heady days.

There have been valleys, too. 2018 was the first time my blogging waned significantly. During both 2023 and 2024 I slowed down a lot. As readers know, after Easter last year I seriously considered folding up this virtual tent and calling it good.

One of the things that kept me from quitting last year was the thought of this anniversary. "One more year and some change," I thought, "until I reach a full two decades." What made me decide not only to continue but to rededicate myself to cultivating this little cyber space is the enjoyment and satifaction I derive from doing so. I like it. And last year, after awhile of not doing it, I missed it.

Since rejuvenating this blog last October, I have taken to deleting some short, kind of weird posts written during my overly prolific days of blogging. I don't go hunting for such posts. But as these pop up in the normal course of things, I schwack them. None of these are substantial contributions. It's easy to forget that for years this was my primary and even my only social media platform.

I have to say, the idea of reaching 20 years of blogging in earnest next summer is a driver for me to continue. It's also nice to be indefinite about blogging. I have no idea how long I might continue. I've poured a lot my heart and soul into this. As a result, I've grown tremendously. Writing publicly also serves as kind of grounding function as well as a reality check at times.

Back in the late oughts and early teens, blogging was all the rage. It seems like everyone had a blog. My start was likely the result of wanting to join in. Well, join I did! While it was cutting edge then, both my format and the platform I use are now what are politely called legacy.

I remember when Wordpress came on the scene and that became all the rage, supplanting Blogger, which had already been purchased by Google. I considered moving over to that platform. I even went so far as to set everything up there with the title Diaconal Digressions.

I can easily recall when paying platforms started: BeliefNet, Patheos, Aleteia, et al. at the height of this craze, I was nearly lured over to one of these. But, like switching to Wordpress, it didn't feel right. Now, of course, there is Substack.

For better or for worse, here I've stayed. Here I plan to stay until blogging days are done.