Hey, Did You Know?

Things like blogging and the social networking tools we use, they provide so much – perhaps too much – opportunity for “did you know?” and “hey, listen to this!” communication. It’s like sitting reading the paper with a family member or housemate. Do you find it annoying to have someone read the funnies to you, or quoting an odd headline or story that you might have already read, or are planning to? Or do you enjoy it?

How are the “did you know” style of blogging, facebooking, and “tweeting” the same, or different? Or does it depend on how engaging the blogger, facebooker, or tweeter may be, or how interested you are in the specific topic?

While I do share my own thoughts and experiences I often find myself quoting – you might say parroting – things I’ve picked up elsewhere. And I don’t know if those posts are as much of interest to my readers as they are to me.

Ah well, you’re still here, aren’t you? I don’t run into as many people who tell me “I love your blog!” and I don’t get many comments, as once I did. But still get as much traffic as ever. Well, I do like to think some of what I post is of use to the stranger who find it through a search engine. So I think I’ll keep up doing history and literature posts from time to time. They keep my brain working, too.

Africa Series

I have been toying with the idea of researching and writing a series of essays on missions in Africa. (How many may depend on the feedback or encouragement I get. Though, then again, it may not!) I had thought to start with the plucky Victorian women like those I wrote about who worked in China. I’ve read a few books now about Mary Slessor (Nigeria) and would like to read more about Lilias Trotter (Algeria). And I’ve got the materials I pulled together for teaching about David Livingstone (Zambia). Each one of these characters was something different from what you might expect.

But I’ve realized I don’t know very much about African Christianity, generally. I keep running into people who are interested in Africa, and/or who plan or yearn to go on a mission trip to some part of that continent. So I thought I’d like to be more knowledgeable than I am. They ask questions, or want background or feedback, and I don't know what to say. Over the next few weeks I'll share some interesting bits I’ve picked up in reading Philip Jenkins’ The Next Christendom.