Blog of the Week

As a participating member in this vast ocean we call the Blogosphere, I enjoy docking my ship at the ports of other, more talented and popular bloggers. I notice a lot of bloggers write a "Favorite blogs of the week" post of Fridays. But when I run across something in the scurvy seas that really makes me think, or laugh, I'll not only share it with you here, but write a commentary.

This week, I've looked forward to tying up at the dock of Donald Miller's Blog. I think Donald Miller is the perfect blogger, because his books are so personable and candid, he already has that style that makes his readers feel like they're his close friends. He's like a modern-day C.S. Lewis. He even has the same ability to write stories that seem to just simply be stories, but are actually allegories that help us understand God.

This week, Donald has given his dog, Lucy, the reigns of his blog, which basically means Donald is writing his conjecture of what Lucy would say about different times in her life. At first, I didn't like it because it wasn't as personable and I didn't get to hear Donald's insight into life. Then I noticed that Don was painting a portrait of ourselves.

In the blog, Lucy talks about being born into a scary world and how big everything seemed. The room she was born in was the entire world until Donald came along and chose her. Donald took her with him and opened up her world. She describes the feeling of being brought out into a big world and getting to know Don, and wanting to be with him all the time because he's all she has. Then she talks about how scary it is to start making mistakes, like digging up pots and peeing on the carpet, and then being thrown outside. She even talks about self-image, and how simple that is for a dog, and how difficult it seems to be for humans.

I can't really do it justice, so go read the stories for yourself. I think Don hit on something with his ability to put himself in Lucy's, er, paws. He was able to think of himself as something smaller than a human, with fewer ambitions and a limited understanding of the world. It sort of helped me understand my place compared to God. I also learned that in order to write about something you can't understand, you need to find a perspective that isn't your own and see where that takes you.