In addition, the book would be necessarily long. The range of
topics that I wish to cover would require something extensive. Not all readers
of these sites will understand how the various topics relate, but they do.
By writing articles and essays I can reach a wide range of
people. Some are wrestling with prolegomena, a topic I wish I had more time to
pursue. Some will come to these questions through the sermonic commentaries I
publish at 'The Paths of Zion', something I very much wish to return to, but
haven't had the time. I finished preaching through 2 Timothy some time ago but
have not finished writing out the sermons. I only take a small outline of notes
when I speak, one side of paper at the most. Afterward I flesh out what I
talked about and the written form is usually close to what I said and hopefully
developed a little better.
Others are wrestling with the political angles, both the
narratives and events in a secular sense vis-à-vis the claims of the Christian
Right. Others are happily questioning the whole nature of the Christian Right.
They will come to these questions from a different angle. God willing the
corpus of my writings will then open up other doors for them, challenge them
and keep them thinking. They won't all the articles I write, but those they do
will get them thinking.
A book could do that, but I could also lose readers early on.
I'm not trying to make money and I don't expect to enjoy a
great deal of success. I've already exceeded my expectations in terms of the
audience I am reaching. Of course I'm well aware that many regular readers are
not fans and are just as likely to use my writings for fodder elsewhere. It's
happened. Yet, I am in many ways content.
As always I simply wish for more time. There's so much more I
want to write about. I have so many articles sitting in note form awaiting the
time to flesh them out. I would really like to start some sort of podcast. I
think that relatively simple enterprise could reach more people than a book
could.
We (my family) need very little to live on, but we usually
don't have a lot of extra. I can't take a lot of time off work and so my
cyber-labours are restricted to the odd hours. My hope is that someday a
modicum of regular support will come in and I can restrict my hours and devote
more time to these pursuits. It probably won't happen but I can remain hopeful.
I don't believe in fancy marketing and other gimmicks. I
think the topics are too sober and weighty to engage in strategies that I
consider to be at the heart of worldliness. I do possess a strong bias against
the attitude of the salesman. My father excelled at marketing, worked very hard
to inculcate its values and methods within me. Alas for him, I have come to
completely and utterly reject them as disingenuous and incompatible with
Christian ethics.
I am content to be a voice in the wilderness and bear my
burdens. God may change my circumstance in His own time. I suppose I'm
something of the Decretalist in this sense. If God wants people to read my work
they will surely stumble upon it, and thankfully a fair number have.
What's the telos of my labours? The glory of God I hope. God
willing in another soon to be published post, I will lay out (somewhat) what it
is I'm suggesting by writing about all of these topics. I will elaborate on
what my ultimate hopes would be.