A Bright Shining Star on a Hill
Driving through Sonoma Valley this evening I noticed for the first time a bright star, stationed at the top of the mountain range on the eastern side of the valley. Some hill dweller bought or constructed this huge shining gift, set it upon their home and lit it bright for the whole valley to consider and enjoy. The owner is anonymous as it is dark and impossible to see the home upon which it sits, making this bright holiday star quite an unselfish offering.
After nearly a month of blogging, it strikes me that even though there is no money to gain from this endeavor, it still cannot be seen as anything nearly as unselfish as that gift on the mountain range. Instead, I notice more than anything the hubris associated with blogging. I assume, as most bloggers must, that there are people out there who will enjoy my missives and thoughts and writings. Yet at this early point in the exercise I can’t really be sure that is the case. So, blogging begins for me as a rather self concerned act that really speaks more to who I think I am, rather than any measure of my readership or my ability to advance the conversation.
Hubris isn’t a bad thing when cultivated in only small amounts. It isn’t a bad thing when balanced by a sense of responsibility. But still, any project that begins as a self-advancing act probably can’t ever aspire to equal the selflessness of an anonymous, bright Christmas star on a moutaintop.
Christmas should be about bright, anonymous stars on a mountaintop.
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