Many bloggers knew (if only by his own blog, Internet Monk) and loved the late, great Michael Spencer.
His obituary was one none of us wanted to read.
And his widow Diane's harrowing blog post today tells us a lot of the reason why.
Yes, it is hard to lose someone you love. And it's hard to see a "bright side".
But if there is a bright side to Michael's death, it is Michael's life. I don't know if anyone this side of heaven is keeping track of how many people his words at "Internet Monk" have helped. But I'm betting the stats number into the thousands, at least. And I'm humbly proud (is that a thing?) to count myself in there somewhere.
So on the bright side of this post (and yes, in a blatant attempt to raise my blog's hit count - hey, that's how you get people to read you, right?), I'm starting a contest:
FOUR BRAND-NEW COPIES of Michael Spencer's newly published book, Mere Churchianity!
How It Works:
1. Post a (non-spamming) comment on this blog post. (Be sure to include your email!)
2. One week from today (June 21st) at, oh, let's say 10 a.m. (Los Angeles, CA time), I will put the names of everyone who's commented (only one entry per person, sorry!) into a Tupperware bowl, and draw out four names.
3. I'll then e-mail the lucky winners for their addresses, and send them their books!
And again, yes, this is partly to see if I can get more people to read my blog.
But you know what? It's also because I read Michael's book when it was released on the Kindle a couple of weeks ago. And I really loved it!
And I think you will, too.
So come on ... what are you waiting for? Post already!!!
(and P.S. - thanks!!)
