I blog because I dive

NOTE: Thanks to Mary Ellen for reminding me to post this piece! Mary Ellen offers up her own answers as to why she blogs...

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When it comes to Quakerism, I like a spiritual kind of scuba diving, going deep into the waters of the faith. Blogging helps me in do that.

I started The Good Raised Up in 2005, over five years ago. I had started reading blogs the previous summer, mostly because a fFriend, Martin Kelley, told me about the online writing he had been doing. Martin and I had talked about our yearning for a Quakerism that was more intentionally rooted in and centered on the Spirit; I yearned to explore the Quakerism that exists beyond the Meeting for Worship and outside of the bounds of Meeting for Worship for Business.

I began reading Martin's blog and the few other Quaker blogs that existed "back then"--in the early 2000s, there were ten or twelve Friends worldwide, it seemed, who wrote Quaker blogs; now there are hundreds--and I found myself writing long comments and returning to the blog-world at least once a day to see others' responses. The comments led to a great deal of reflection and longer exchanges among those of us who were reading and writing Quaker blogs.

As the weeks turned into months of commenting on blogs--something like short letters to the editor of a very small, very local newspaper--I soon understood that the perspective and the "voice" that I was bringing to the online conversation was unique and [at that time] not well represented in the Quaker blogosphere. I contacted a Jewish woman who was writing a blog about her studies as a rabbinical student because I wanted to know her experience as a female blogger, and she encouraged me onward.

When I started The Good Raised Up, it was clear to me that I would be writing about the Quakerism that doesn't often get talked about in our meetings: the foundation of worship, the historic principles that guide our actions today as a faith community, and the traditions that seem to be endangered or otherwise are falling out of practice.

As a result, writing this blog has been a form of ministry, and I have appreciated the eldership that a few Friends have provided over the years. These blog-elders call me to account when I overstep or when I have reacted to others out of judgment. They also give me support to keep up the writing I've been doing, which encourages me to go deeper.

The deeper I dive into our history and tradition, the more I learn about the quirky Quakerism we practice.

Blessings,
Liz