I haven’t been keeping up with this blog lately for a couple of reasons:

• I’m developing more resources for individuals, family and churches to access
• I’m leaning more heavily on other platforms and, TBH
• I find some of the updates to WordPress make it harder and more time consuming to use.

But you know what happens when you neglect any online platform–from websites, to blog sites to social media channels? The Bots come for you.

That’s right. Those disembodied creatures that spam your sites and accounts can sense when you are inactive, and that’s when they attack. (Note: there are some bots out there that can be used for good, but most are up to no good.)

Fortunately, my blog settings require that I approve any comments before they go live (something I highly recommend). But lately I’ve been getting about 10 emails a day alerting me that I have a comment to approve. They’ve ALL been spam. There was a day when such comments got flagged as spam before I ever had to deal with them, but apparently the bots are getting smarter.

So, I need to either ditch this blog or get back to posting on a regular basis. Someday, I’m going to allocate the time and money to work with someone to better consolidate all the platforms I have cobbled together, but today is not that day. And 2023 is probably not even that year–so here’s a post. Look for more in the future.

But what blog post from a pastor would be complete without a life application/object lesson?

Be mindful of the “bots” that sneak into your life. Those things that point you toward, at best, meaningless, and at worst, harmful distractions that take you away from the things that really matter. What are the practices that you have been neglecting that allow those bots to get a foothold into your life–which is far more precious than any website?

I’m going to start paying more attention to this blog. What are you going to start paying more attention to?

___

Rev. Anne Russ is an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA), currently based in New York City. Doubting Believer provides tools and encouragement for the rollercoaster ride of your faith journey. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram and YouTube. You can also follow on TikTok. Get emails to keep up with all that is happening.