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and with that, we're full circle, in a way--back to "you're not Jesus, preacher." Thanks for all you do. And thanks for caring about all you can't do. And thanks for taking care of yourself.
~sparks (not signed in on a public computer in California)

I know this was a hard decision but I commend you for this Gordon.
sonofapreacher

Sounds like a great plan! Glad that you are taking care of yourself. Peace.

Dave

I can only have a fraction of your e-mails, Gordon, but I still have trouble answering them all. It's so easy to send an e-mail, but not so easy to sit and write a thoughtful answer to many e-mails.

E-mails have a way of taking over your life, but don't let them!

K

I had 347 outstanding emails in my inbox last week, so i answered about a hundred on a long train trip and felt pretty good about it.

Then they all responded.

Have you ever considering allowing someone else to answer some of your emails? I worked for a ministry that got TONS of emails and several of us volunteered to answer the ones to people who were hurting, etc. Of course you would have to let the person writing the email know that the answer was not from you - but from someone you trusted. Just a thought.

Oops, that above comment was me but I wasn't logged in :)

paix à vous,
BarBarA

It took me a long time to realize that just because someone needs me doesn't mean I owe them anything. You have your life and the people in it. All the people on the Internet are secondary to those people in your life.

Most importantly, YOU. You have to take care of you.

On that note, you just reminded me that I need to send you an email! ;)

Pick Me! Weblog

Everything that makes email wonderful and good as a mode of communication can also make it hard to use for the delicate sorts of listening we need to do when someone needs to pour out their heart. It is fundamentally a disconnected system, where we need to make connections. It is asynchronous when we need to be there in the moment. It allows us to be distant when what the other person needs is contact. It conveys only what our words can express, when a look, a healing touch, an expression, or a shared moment of silence or prayer or laughter would do so much more.

As several people have mentioned above, I think it's perfectly reasonable for you to make a priority to care for yourself, your family and your congregation first before attempting to care for the rest of us in the blogosphere. As real as we all are, and as real as you are, there isn't enough bandwidth in the world to do justice to what you seem to be asking of yourself.

Peace,
Casey

Just another voice from the peanut gallery

I'm Casey's wife and I have to repeat what everyone else has said, "take care of yourself and your family".

Years ago when our recently-retired assistant rector was ordained the bishop who had retired a year or two before preached the sermon and he said to Horace, "You listen to God and you listen to Fay, and if Fay and God are in disagreement, you still listen to Fay!" (He was a very colorful Jamaican-born bishop.)

BTW, I am amazed that I like and respect a Texas Baptist so much! (I am the daughter of an Arkansas Episcopalian who had certain prejudices...;-)

Kebby

Very sensible way to solve this problem--frank, honest and practical. cool beans...
Lissa

I was going to write something witty and sarcastic and all in-the-moment.. But, naw, I'll just say that I'm proud of you for having boundaries and being honest about them. Now stick to them. Someone else wrote, paraphrasing you I believe -- You ain't Jesus, Preacher. That was one of the my favorite bits from your book, by the way.

You take care of yourself too, my friend.

When I go away on holidays I fix an "auto-reply" to my emails that says I'm away, and when I get back my inbox will be deleted (I delete it!) and if your email is still relevant after that time, please re-send it. This works well. People find other support systems or answers to their questions, and I don't get a lot when I get back.

You might think about trying this when you get swamped - just to ease off the flow for a few days and catch up.

- Rev. A.

Gordon,

Just a day or two ago, I read writer John Scalzi's blog post "What to Know Before You Ask Ask Me to Read Your (Unpublished) Work" in which he explains why he cannot comply with such requests from strangers.

It seems to me your conundrum vis-a-vis email is similar in some ways. Maybe it would behoove you to create a similar statement, so that your readers would know what to expect (or not expect!) when they write to you.

Regards, Stan

Here's what I know:

Rules are tricky. Somewhere a wise Benedictine noted that whatever you write down becomes fixed, inflexible, and runs the risk of not accommodating the real humanity in the situations the rules were written to help handle. I celebrate your wisdom in sticking to your guns, just doing what you feel is right the best way you can and saying that it won't be perfect. That kind of modeling is the best teaching in the world.

Pardon my blunt response. Read 'em. Delete 'em. Do what you have to do for you. But know that playing catch and reflection on the lectionary is all that and a bag of chips. You made my month.

Tripp Hudgins

http://www.anglobaptist.org

I don't have a clue how you should handle all those emails. But although you don't like thinking of yourself as someone special--NOT because you have a popular blog, and not even because you are an execellent writer--well, you might have to face that you are someone special. For some of us, you are special because you are a preacher that we got to pick. I'm sure for some of us you are special because of your storytelling abilities. For me, you are special because you're the "real deal", someone I assess to be trying to live the life of a follower/disciple of Jesus. Anyone who is the real deal, whether a teacher or a nurse or an engineer, well, people will be drawn in. I don't say this to add stress to your life, I say it in thanks. Kait

I would hate to admit how much email I receive and never respond to. It would take me all day to respond to everything and then I wouldn't ever be able to do anything else....

So I give you some extra-special email avoidance grace (in a hermetically sealed vial that I keep on my dresser...) and you can extend me some if and when I don't respond to your emails...

rev mommy

Ok I had to resist the urge to email you and say don't worry, we understand!

Hey, you have the scribe's gift which is a sensitive instrument. If it wasn't, you wouldn't be able to write. Given that, it also behooves you to prayerfully guard the gift and not over stress on e-mails. We're all big shots and we're all special in one arena or another. Of course you're someone special. Get over it.

My unsolicited suggestion is this: Every day, before you read the mail, pray for guidance as to which ones to answer and which ones to just pray about. Read 'em. Answer and delete the rest. And empty your trash just once a week.

Peace,
Presbyterian Gal

What about comments, preach? Do you read all of them? I would think that would be a hard thing too because they are in reaction to something you have said and I, being the prideful person that I am, would feel the need to defend myself, or clear up any confusion, etc. And I imagine that you get many more comments than email.

Take this comment, for example. Are you reading it? If so, just know that I don't expect a response--I don't even want one! In fact, if you respond, I'm just going to write you an email :)

peace
kc

It's good that you're looking out for yourself, and in turn your family, your church, your readers, etc.

Jason

www.atthetable.wordpress.com

I love you for the fact that no matter how behind or out-of-control your life is, you have time to take a call from a big girl becoming a small woman who is just beginning to process and question what she knows about God. That and the fact she is comfortable enough to make sermon topic suggestions to you....

You are the House of theology. A dick, but we love you.