From time to time I think I will pack in the blog. Quit. Pack up the old blogger and put my tapping fingers to my other projects.
Then I get comments and emails: “Please don’t pack up the blogging Father!” Or I meet people at a conference or in a parish, “Oh you’re Father Longenecker! I read your blog everyday. I love it. Keep up the good work!” Even better, I get an email, “Father, I’m a Protestant, and I’ve just started RCIA. It’s because of your blog and your witness.” Or, “Father, I’ve never understood my Catholic faith quite like you express it before. Thanks for your work.”
Now I’m not bragging, but the success of the blog has been pretty amazing. I get about 1,000 hits a day. Yes, yes, I know 500 of those are my own hits because of my unfortunate blog obsession, and yes, I know I should see a blog counsellor or join BLA (Bloggers Anonymous) “Hello, I’m Dwight and I’m a blogaholic. “
The point is: This is not blackmail or anything, ’cause I will keep on blogging anyway, but the fact of the matter is, I could be writing articles and books and stuff that actually pay. I am a married priest, and my kids have crooked teeth. Orthodontists are expensive. We’re living on macaroni and cheese. My shoes are patched with cardboard. We’re so poor and skinny our pajamas only have one stripe…blah blah blah.
Seriously, if you like this blog and feel led to use the ‘Donate’ button on the sidebar it would be greatly appreciated. Alternatively, pop over to the website through the sidebar link and buy a book.
So stick ’em up! Your money or your life…(I will leave the armchair theologians to work out the deeper meaning of that commonplace phrase.)
I read your blog every day, Father. I will visit the donate button.
I’m flying if I get thirty. I think it would be an understatement to say that God has given this to you for obvious reasons, and that your readership is only going to increase as time goes on (which would mean increased books sales), and especially as our world situation gets worse. Heck, they might even come kicking in your door one day and confiscate your computer.
Father, if it will make you feel better about your blogaholism, I read your blog regularly from halfway around the world–I’ve become a Dwightaholic from the Philippines–and have RSS link on my Google homepage. Much better, I got two copies of your book ‘Listen, My Son’ from a local bookstore–one for reading, and the other for when the first gets worn. I can say it has changed my life significantly as husband and, hopefully, a dad someday. It is not often here to find the guidance of a Catholic priest who’s also a dad. Please keep on blogging!
Father I have purchased two of you books as a result of your blog and plan on getting another one or two sometime soon.I read your blog everyday, please keep up your work it’s too good of a resource too too lose.
I just bought “Adventures in Orthodoxy” Thursday!
Slow down if you must, but please DON’T STOP blogging!
I would also encourage you not to stop. This is a helpful ministry.