Sharp as Iron

An elderly much-respected gentleman (or “ancient out-of touch old buffer” by his own definition) has tried to “steer me in his (dubious) direction” (again I quote!)
He has raised some very good points which I shall address right now so he knows I’m listening to him;-)
What he suggested had never occurred to me – which reminds me another one of my soapboxes is “intergenerationalism” and I haven’t mentioned it in my profile, despite it being one I have been decidedly verbal about in the past – and I dare not add it now coz he said:
I guess my conservative nature makes me cringe at such an open disclosure of oneself. I would hesitate to list such a vast array of interests and passions, because although interested in many things, I really only play lip service to many of the subjects. These I would not list. An uncharitable mind would say that such listing is not far short of bragging "look at me, and my wide range of cultural/philosophical/environmental etc etc interests". I merely warn you how the critic may view such things.
Aha - I had never thought of it like that! That’s why I need older people in my life – they see things I don’t. I just listed all those things coz they’re issues I’ve been pondering on and off for as long as I can remember. One friend suggested I start a home education blog – but I couldn’t limit myself to that in the sense that we don’t do much formal academic stuff (what people think of as education), but we do live a very rich life. My kids learn how to learn in part by watching me tackle new ideas. K8 became interested in knitting when I took it up myself a year ago. In fact, I have done so much knitting in the last year that I could blog just about that! But restricting myself to just a craft blog would leave out so much of who I am.
Actually, one of my posts one day was going to be about how I feel like a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none....maybe now is the time!

My venerable friend then pointed out that the (quote) 'mission statement' "I simply want to worship God etc" is a most worthwhile objective but again open to mis-interpretation. (Just how holy does she think she is?)
I hadn’t thought of that either! But my friend’s criticism was constructive and he suggested:
I know this is your sincere aim, and one to which all believers would ascribe (even if they don't articulate it) but I think you could have made it a bit clearer that although this is your deep desire for you and your family, it will be a journey, full of highs and lows, successes and failures.
Ah yes – so true. This will not be an every-day-is-perfect blog. While I do want to remember the good times, I know I am changed through the trials and hardships. This blog is partly about who I am becoming and so you will find challenges and failures sitting alongside the delightful moments.

My dear friend knows me well and commented:Of course, you are an idealist and as such you will not be concerned about those who wish to pull you down.
He’s right in that I just want this to be a faithful record of the lessons I am learning. I want to be full of integrity. I want to provide a ray of hope and encouragement. I want to be real. I want to share my passions. I don’t expect everyone to be like me – but as the proverb says, as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.