Walking out of the cinema today following watching “Life of Pi” (on which I really ought to post a review), I was suddenly struck by the awesome negligence with which I have treated CoolReligion in the past 3 months or more. With this in mind I feel that I owe our handful of faithful readers an apology:
I’m sorry for being so tardy.
My tardiness did, however, have a reason: I’ve not really known what to write about.
Considering Purpose
When first conceived this blog was about two things: expressing my own commentary on contemporary spirituality, and sharing my own passion for the diversity that is comparative religious studies.
This year has, for me, been largely dominated by my own continuing struggles in the classroom. As a teacher of Religious Education, I’ve found my appetite for the blog deadened by an inability to find new and relevant things to talk about… at least, that is, outside of my own personal struggles with spirituality and faith.
I’ve not felt that indulging in lengthy posts about my own personal wrangling would be of interest to others. And I still am not convinced that this is the case.
However… two things have encouraged me to return to the blog: the first has been the outcome of encouraging RevDMac (a guest blogger who seems to have posted more times this year than I have!) to write his own private blog; the second has been watching the aforementioned movie.
There is appetite to share one’s journey in faith and spirituality. Regardless of whether anyone is reading, I feel that it’s important for me to keep writing. The temptation is to make my posts private, as my friend RevD has chosen to do… but, given that I’ve pretty much outed my own searchings in the past, I don’t see any reason to cloak myself in secrecy now. I simply need to find some things to write about.
Reading the posts of others and reflecting on “Life of Pi” I realise that there is simply a lot to be experienced in the sharing of thoughts, ideas and questions. Whether it’s the struggles of my pupils, my own concerns or discussing matters arising from the modern world, there is a place for reflection and discussion.
For me, the place for such musings is CoolReligion.net.
Looking Back…
2012 has been a weird year for CoolRel. We’ve had 16 posts – 12 from me and 4 from RevDMac.
Interestingly, however, our Top 5 posts over the last 12 months were:
- Religion & Science: The Phony War (April 2011)
- Man Goes Missing In River For Three Days (March 2011)
- Four Aspects Of Faith (October 2010)
- Why Did Neanderthals Bury Their Dead? (July 2011)
- 3 Reasons Why Pushing Your Religion Is A Bad Idea (July 2010)
In the last month, the Top 5 were:
- Why Did Neanderthals Bury Their Dead? (July 2011)
- A Christmas Hypocrisy? (December 2011)
- Four Aspects Of Faith (October 2010)
- 3 Reasons Why Pushing Your Religion Is A Bad Idea (July 2010)
- Brahman & Atman (January 2012)
The key themes through these posts are questions arising from the practice of religious ideas and elements of interest from either Hindu or prehistoric religion. The exception is “Religion & Science” which continues to be a hot topic and one which, oddly, I have been avoiding discussing further (despite my own continued research into that relationship).
What can we learn from the last year? What is the way forward?
2013…?
Well… that’s a good question.
There is an interest in Eastern spirituality that gels with my own continued exploration for understanding Hindu and Buddhist ideas. Current Western culture is absorbing Eastern ideas surprisingly quickly and deeply… and often without people realising it. It seems that readers might be interested in more on these themes.
There is also the relationship between the Sciences and religious ideas that begs further comment. There is much to add to the basic articles already posted… and many questions arising. Certainly past posts have generated intense discussion and, although I am nervous of the temperature these comments can generate, I can’t ignore the fact that 20%+ of my readers hit this topic on the site.
Finally, there are the articles which arose from my own questions: Top 5 posts #3, #4 and #5 all reflect my own queries and the exploration given to the questions in class. This year has generated a mass of questions from high-school children which, if I took then time to share them, would probably give us a dozen articles without too much effort. Given past interest in these themes, I am encouraged to explore them further.
What will 2013 bring? I cannot be sure… but I can focus my energies on these three themes and, hopefully, bring you some articles that are more worthy of your attention than, perhaps, my efforts in the last 12 months.
And Finally…
A heartfelt thanks to RevDMac who, quite unselfishly, keeps on providing us with really insightful articles. None of his articles make the Top 5 listings, but they all receive attention (especially from regular readers) and they are each of them appreciated.
We also have to admit to missing the writings of atheist FustratedHistorian who, again very unselfishly, gave us a series of philosophical articles in 2011. We miss him dearly and wonder if, by some miracle or magic, we might persuade him to post just one more time in 2013. Either way, a heartfelt thanks is long overdue to this guest blogger too – thanks, dude!
In the end, I just write for myself and have been gratified that you read my whisperings. Thank you to every one who has taken the time to read any of our posts in the last 3 or more years. I honestly don’t know what you see that I don’t, but I am really grateful for your generous support, kind words, and encouraging smiles.
Have a happy New Year and a really blessed 12 months to come!
And so let it be.
A happy new year to you as well. Please do keep writing your interesting and thought provoking blog posts. I work at a Catholic school where morning and afternoon prayers are read by the students. I try very hard to stop what I am doing and at least take the few minutes to breath and be silent. I’d be interested in what your students are asking.
Thank you, Laura, for your vote of confidence.