A Word for the Faint of Heart

I hope that you guys have enjoyed the pictures. I will, however, be going to a Flickr account in the future (more info later). I also want to say thanks to all of you who embody the readership of P&P. Many of you I realize are new to P&P, and this blog has been upheld by word-of-mouth referral and gracious recommendations of fellow bloggers. If you believe in this blog, I ask you to carry its message; but regardless if you do or don't, I am grateful that you have taken the time to include this as a part of your day. Now that leads me to make this announcement. I am fully aware that some of my posts have been considered as "hard-hitting" and controversial. I don't expect everyone to agree with me (or something is inherently wrong), and I know that there will be some who will say Amen while others would like to burn the pages these words would be written on. Regardless of how you feel, I want you to feel it. The worst thing would be to have you unprovoked, unmoved, indifferent, and disengaged. During the next two weeks or so, I will be sharing such posts. As you may have noticed, I have not put many posts lately that are the typical "thoughtful" kind of genre, and that is because I have been giving considerable thought lately to matters at hand for writings forthcoming. Although my writings may have sermonic overtones, I really consider them anecdotal in nature. In them, I will ask questions I hope that you or others would be willing to help answer, comments that are embedded in the very core of who I am, and pleas that are to appeal to all. If you are faint of heart, weak-stomached, or would like to avoid tough words and a sincere message, consider this as the warning - "Reader Discretion is Strongly Advised: Comments made during this window of time may offend, anger, confound, provoke, stimulate, and stir you and cause you to think outside the box. " I write these not for a larger readership, but for an engaged readership; I am cognizant that some will be turned off, so I am making this post to be a announcement of programming that you may grab your remote and switch to a different channel if you like. Now that I have made this aware to you, I will proceed to share with you my heart. When I was in college, I wrote in my journal under two headings: heart breathings and heart spewings. Breathings were just thoughts about life and observations I had made; spewings, well, were just that. They were things that pierced me, convicted me, angered me, and beckoned me to speak up. They are like fire in my bones, and for me to remain silent would be for me to implode. I ask that you to respond with sincerity, with reason, and with transparency; yet respond to the post and please do not make character attacks at me or anyone else simply because you do not like what is said. If you disagree, say so, but explain yourself and why and where you disagree. I do not know how many of these posts I will make (right now around 7-10 or so), but I am telling you now for those of you who think, "There he goes again . . . He is so critical yada yada yada." Yes, I am critical, and we must not think the word critical with always negative connotation. Being critical is truth-preserving, and without it, we err both in orthodoxy (what we believe) and orthopraxy (what we do). Enough of that. Interspersed in these posts you might find some pictures, news, or the typical random stuff as well. Anyway. I felt it necessary to make this word to you now so that the forthcoming posts may not catch you by surprise. Thanks again for your time.