Blogging as a Pensieve

In many ways, this blog is like a “Pensieve” from the Harry Potter books. What is a Pensieve, you might ask. Well, a “Pensieve” is a stone receptacle in which to store memories. It contains memories that take physical form as a type of matter that is described as neither liquid nor gas. A person can extract their own memories or another person’s, store them in the Pensieve, and review them later. It also relieves the mind when it becomes cluttered with information. Anyone can examine the memories in the Pensieve.
As I’ve said before, much of what appears in this blog is not really my attempt to make declarative statements about issues or beliefs, but as a way to work through or wrestle with issues and ideas “out loud.” I may “try out” an idea. I may play “devils advocate.” I may vent frustration or disappointment or anger over something or someone. I may post something simply because it simply pleases me and I want to remember it.
Like reading through the Harry Potter books one after another and observing the progression of maturation and experiences lived through by the characters, I see this life as a progression and as much as I hate the word “journey” as it is used in the current vernacular, our Christian lives are nothing but a journey into an “undiscovered country,” the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus tried to convey to his disciples in the Gospel lessons a couple weeks ago. In this sense the Christian life has much in common with the Buddhist life. They are both means for living, and not religions. Christianity is different and distinct, however, because of the claims of Jesus and issues of the divine that have to be dealt with, but the way of life called for by both is similar. Religions have grown up around both, also.
Anyway, blogging (and journaling in general) reveals the journey. As a “Pensieve,” I put things in this blog that I fully intend to return to. Other people can witness this process, this journey, these memories and these thoughts that I intended to pick more fully, later. Not as fully experienced or fleshed out as within a “real Pensieve,” however. I’m sure some think I’m, well, “nutters” in one way or another.
The point of a “Penseive” is not to impress people or to persuade people or to cause them to like you. The point is to deposit thoughts, ideas, memories, that clutter the mind but to which you wish to return. “Oh, that’s good, I don’t want to forget that, but I don’t have time right now to deal with it,” might be the thinking. Sometimes, there is just too much to think about at any one time.
So, this is my “Pensieve,” for what it’s worth.