Christian Writing in a Digital Age

I have a rather posh and academic sounding title for today's post, I am feeling decidedly intelligent and articulate and I am revelling in this slightly unusual sensation!

Over the last few days I have been trying to limit the amount of time I spend online, but that's another story I may blog about another day. However last night I logged on to Facebook with perfect timing to discover an announcement had just been added

ACW is delighted to announce the winners of our recently closed blog writing competition, in partnership with the BIGBible Project. 

I scrolled down the list of names with a smile on my face to see my friend Fiona listed as the winner of the second prize.

As I read on I discovered another name I recognised, Helen with an honourable mention and I couldn't quite believe it but mine was listed as honourable mention too!

I was convinced my entry was just added for the purpose of making up the numbers, although secretly I was pleased I'd written exactly 450 words (not a requirement but always strangely satisfying!) I'd nevertheless dithered about the content and almost abandoned what I'd written to write something else entirely!

Anyway here are my honourably mentioned 450 words on the subject of "Christian Writing in a Digital Age"

Let’s be Honest…

my inspirational journal

Recently I treated myself to a beautiful new journal with quotations on every page, inspirational Bible verses and encouraging sayings by famous people. The other day as I wrote my diary I turned over and found this…

“Society needs people who…know how to be compassionate and honest… emotional… [and] affectional. You can’t run society on data and computers alone.” Alvin Toffler

Toffler is “known for his works discussing the digital revolution” according to Wikipedia so it must be true!

It sort of fitted with the vague thoughts floating around my head. Was it God’s timing that I had found the perfect pithy quote to use in my “Christian Writing in a Digital Age” blog post?

Toffler’s name wasn’t new to me; he was quoted once in a lecture when I did my degree. Just some off the cuff comment really that has always stuck in my brain.

A little post it note from God, something I should remember.

The word that jumps out at me from the quote is “honest”.

After all there is a seedy side to this digital revolution, quite rightly we teach our kids to be aware of internet dangers while we too navigate an ever changing landscape.

It can be all too easy to hide behind a façade on social media sites, inventing new personas to mask our real selves and sometimes our intentions.

However I have found the opposite to be true, for me it far easier to completely bare my soul. Somehow I can say things online that I wouldn’t be brave enough to in a face to face situation. This is most noticeable when I write about my Christian beliefs.

My husband died in 2010 and I started a blog. There is no point to my writing if I don’t truthfully express exactly how I feel, but where does that leave my faith? It is an intrinsic part of who I am. 

Miraculously it grew through the tragedy rather than diminished so I naturally write about that too. Not just how wonderful God is but the doubts that I also experience – real honest emotional messy faith.

If people don’t like my Christian blog posts they don’t have to read them, you are only ever one click away from something else. Although recently I have noticed from my blog stats that my more blatant faith posts are getting the most views and best feedback.

Only God fully knows what kind of an impact my writing has on other people. I can’t confess to praying earnestly before I add my words to the World Wide Web but deep down I trust that God will use them and perhaps one day someone will be quoting me!

You can read all the entries here and if you click on Fiona or Helen's names above you can find their wonderful blogs and some more of their excellent writing.