Today marks the third anniversary of igNation. I've had the privilege of being one of the regular writers since the start. This required a minor conversion on my part. My initial impression of blogs was that they were somewhat narcissistic. It may have had more to do with the ones I looked at. Here's me doing such and such! Here's a photo of me with my admirers!

I would swear to friends that I would never get involved in writing a blog. Never say never! Although I try to include a personal touch, I honestly hope that I'm not guilty of narcissism. I think I see my writing of these posts as a chance for all of us – me included – to grow in my appropriation of the Gospel in the twenty-first century.

I am good at writing fairly short pieces, taking one idea or image and letting my mind wander with it. It's much easier than writing a chapter-length piece of academic writing. Last fall I was working on a chapter for a new volume in our series on the history of the Jesuits in English Canada. An academic paper like that has to be exact and references have to be precise. You can't say, "The retreat house opened sometime in late 1954." There have to be detailed footnotes and references. The retreat house opened on an exact date and there are many details that culminated in that day.

A blog post of several hundred words allows for much more flexibility and freedom. I try to follow proper grammar, but I can be looser than required by academic writing. Fr. John Pungente, the blogmeister, was the principal at our school in Winnipeg when I was a regent, early in my formation as a Jesuit. He assigned me to teach grade nine English grammar two years in a row. I grew in appreciation of the finer points of grammar. I also grew in appreciation of short sentences and common sense language. I hope that my former students have made use of what I taught. I think that I was creative. It’s challenging to keep grade nine young men interested!

I wrote in an earlier post about my writing process and the fact that coffee shops are my muse. Let me tell you a few things about the process of preparing a blog post for igNation. Fr. Pungente sends me a list of suggested pieces for a month or so. That list consists of ideas from both of us.

He also sends me a last-minute idea if something newsworthy comes up, especially with the Jesuits or the Church. I enjoy the challenge of preparing a thoughtful post in a rush. Or, I’ll send him an unsolicited post if I’ve just come across something I’d like to write about. Fr. Pungente likes to have the text at least a week before it will be posted. I compose the piece, usually on my iPad. I send him the text. He sets it up for posting, including adding pictures or images.

A few of you have asked me who is staying up until midnight, to actually post it. No one is! Unless Fr. Pungente has changed his lifestyle, he certainly isn't up at midnight. He times the pieces to be posted about midnight and they go to subscribers. I share a link on Facebook on the day the post appears.

I am selective about which posts I read on igNation and which I choose to ignore. Some just don't interest me. Also, I find that there is so much out there on social media. People on places such as Facebook are forever posting items that are interesting, provocative, or supportive of my spiritual growth. We have to be discerning with our use of social media.

One of the aims of igNation is to spread the Gospel in and through the culture of our time. Have you ever thought of writing a few reflections for igNation? What do you want readers to hear about? Fr. Pungente is always happy to hear from new writers. Contact him at pungente@sympatico.ca. Meanwhile, let’s start the fourth year of this venture!

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 igNation has some 500 subscribers who receive a daily summary of that day’s posting. Thanks to the contributions of 182 writers, 1,006 articles, poems and short stories have been posted since we first went on line.  We receive between 4,000 to 5,000 “hits” a week.  We strive to spread the gospel in and through the culture of our times. Thanks to all of you for reading igNation. Please continue to do so and to tell your friends about us.