After a hectic period of time which included a move, I considered coming back to the blog, but decided against it. My blog posts and sermons; my messages in general. I hoped for them to be more effective. I had no interest in speaking into the wind. I wanted more than to speak to an unidentified audience.
Instead of speaking I decided to be quiet and spend time learning. I decided to spend some time studying leaders. I read books, essays, and opinions on subjects ranging from Reverend Ralph Abernathy to Florida State legend Bobby Bowden. I spent some time traveling and talking to people. More importantly, I spent time listening to people. I stopped focusing on what I want to tell people, and started asking what people need to hear.
I kept reading. I read the words of Martin Luther King Jr. as he talked about a need to speak because silence was a betrayal. I read from different leaders their strategies for approaching difficult but needed conversations. I attempted to understand how to best lead and how to not take failure personally.
I continue to read. While I read I attempt to craft what needs to be said, and how it needs to be presented. I look for the words to speak to a country divided by racial, political, social, and economic lines. I search for the best way to speak to the focus the Church has lost; the focus it needs to regain. I consider the outcome I desire from speaking and suddenly committing to a number of blog posts or an artificially imposed quota loses all meaning.
I say all that to say that I did not forget about my pledge to write 12 blog posts in 2014; I outgrew the commitment.
