Therapy Presbyterian Style

I have kept very few of my New Year's resolutions. In fact, there are only two that I can think of that I have kept with any sort of commitment. The first is that I have indeed only spent $12 or less on used (not new) CD's each month. Pretty astonished at keeping that one so far. My other triumph is that I have drastically reduced my number of visits to buffets. I used to love buffet joints, but now have only allowed myself one visit a month and am no worse off for it. Now, if I could just remember the rest of the list.

I do faintly remember one of my failed resolutions. It seemed silly at the time, but as I look back on it, this particular resolution would have done me a lot more good than the rest. I had planned on taking a year-long break from watching the journalistic train-wreck known as The Layman. For those who don't know, The Layman or specifically in this case The Layman Online, is a Presbyterian tabloid that is dedicated to conservative causes in the Presbyterian Church. Now I don't have anything against conservative causes in general. However, The Layman is particularly notorious among Presbyterians for its somewhat suspect journalism and its bitter tone towards people and events in the PC(USA). I thought I could easily skip this part of my morning routine, but alas, that bright yellow banner is much too tantilizing to the senses. I just have to read it.

As I browse the online edition, I am often drawn to the Letters To the Editor page, which more or less serves as a highly moderated discussion board. A dedicated core of letter writers dominates the discussion, however, I do give The Layman kudos for printing a variety of responses to their content, including negative comments. Anyway, I have longed to write a letter to editor for some time, but on several previous occasions was met with such scorn (from pastors none the less...Jim Yearsley and Russ Westbrook specifically) that I dare not put myself in the position of being rhetorically assassinated again. Instead, I had decided that anytime I felt the urge, I would write a letter to The Layman and just save it to my Draft box. Well, I thought to myself, I might as well publish something on this page. So from now on, this will be my 'letters to The Layman' junk pile. Knowing what little I do about the Presbyterian Blogosphere, I think some posts may be read by a few interested leaders. For the most part, I am just doing this as a form of self-preservation.