"The pen is mightier than the sword." Edward Bulwer-Lytton

I just returned from the board meeting of the American Christian Writer's (Ozarks Chapter). One of the ladies attended a summer conference in St. Louis and made a report on the conference. One of the speakers used PAC as a personal reminder when it comes to writing and submitting for publication. PAC stands for prayer and confidence--prayerfully write, submit with confidence. I think that is a good thing to use when posting to Out of My Hat, too. It certainly would have saved having to swallow some bitter words this past week.

It doesn't mean that I have to suppress my feelings or opinions. It does mean that there are ways to share them without being mean-spirited. As my blogging buddy Mike has pointed out--"You cannot unsay a cruel word."

A few days ago, my brother posted a link on his Facebook that is to the blog of fairly well known evangelical author/preacher/teacher Brian McLaren. Mr . McLaren is obviously way better at expressing his concerns than I am. His Open Letter to Christian Conservatives in the US, on Health Care is the kind of stuff that I wish I would have said. I hope that you will take the time to read this post. One of the more striking statements addressing his concerns of the modern Christian conservatives is this one:

As a result, I sometimes think that Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, and Fox News may now influence many conservative Evangelicals, Charismatics, and Catholics even more than Billy Graham, Rick Warren, T.D. Jakes, Pope Benedict, or even the four gospels.

The entire post is very well written and expresses his concerns and opinions in a manner that allows for differences and keeps from tearing down our friends and brothers in Christ Jesus. In the end, I'd have to say that Mr. McLaren puts into practice that prayer discipline before writing his blog.

I'll try to do the same. It is difficult to get these size 10 1/2D nasty feet out of my mouth.

John <><