I've muttered things under my breath before.
In fact, I think I did that just yesterday.
And this morning, I responded to one of my dad's posts and, after submitting my comment, I began to wonder: Should I have said what I did in the way that I did? I think what I said is accurate, fair, and insightful--like most of what I write <cough>--but would I say it Swanson's face? Would I post such a comment on his blog--assuming he ever enabled comments?
Probably not.
Similarly, how I talk to Amber or Justin about our MathTacular projects is very different from what I would say to my mom. Does that mean that I'm lying to either party? Am I disingenuous?
I don't think so.
I am, however, hopefully responding in such a way that makes sense to my audience. I'm attempting to speak to them in a way they understand. My words change, not because my message is different, but because my audience is. Blogging, however, makes this much harder because anyone can come across my words. That's scary.
And when we are critiquing the ideas of another, how do we apply Psalm 19:14? I want my words and thoughts to be pleasing to God, and part of that is watching my doctrine which often means working through what appear to be errors in others' ideas.
Hmm... now I wish more than ever that Swanson would post his ideas and allow people to comment. Then I could say these things to his face, and I think it be helpful. As it is now, I fear that my words are not as gracious or uplifting as they should be. But I don't know, Jesus wasn't particularly mild when it came to urging for correction...
~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father
