Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
The 4 Best Posts of 2020 You Didn’t Read

The 4 Best Posts of 2020 You Didn’t Read

Last updated on: December 27, 2020 at 3:00 am by John Beckett

The 4 Best Posts of 2020 You Didn’t Read 2020-12-18T09:04:31-06:00 John Beckett

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

2020 has been a bizarre year in every respect, including blogging. January through April were record months for blog traffic. Then both Facebook and Google made algorithm changes and traffic dropped to below 2017 levels.

Regardless of overall readership levels, some posts are well-read and some posts aren’t. I wrote a lot of political posts this year, for obvious reasons. Most of those don’t do well, although some do very well. Book and movie reviews never do well. Neither do travel posts. I thought maybe this year would be different, but no. And sometimes my writing simply isn’t that good – when you’re putting out over 140 posts a year they’re not all going to be amazing.

But every year, there are posts where I find myself saying “this is important – why are people not reading this?”

Here are four posts from 2020 I think have some really important concepts in them, but that weren’t well read. Take a look at these summaries, and if you didn’t read them the first time, check them out now.

Don’t Abandon Your Dreams: No Small Goals (August 2020, #124 in readership)

It’s hard to think about big goals when you’re just trying to survive. It’s harder still when the world is as disrupted as our world has been this year. But hard times make it all the more important to remember your dreams, and to keep working toward them.

Turn your dreams into goals, big goals into intermediate goals, intermediate goals into small goals – and then take the first step toward them.

What Does It Take To Be An Honorable Opponent? (November 2020, #132 in readership)

This is a political post that goes beyond politics.

While cooperation and collaboration are best, when we have different values and priorities we will find ourselves in competition. This is true in politics, sports, business, religion, or anything else. We should play hard, and we should expect our opponents to do so as well.

But there are boundaries that must be respected. Even war has rules.

Those who deny facts, and who demonize and try to disenfranchise whole groups of people based on their identities and orientations have shown themselves to be dishonorable opponents. And while we must never stoop to their level, we must do everything in our power to defeat them.

Be an honorable opponent. Respect honorable opponents. Do not tolerate dishonorable opponents.

Memorial to British Soldiers at Concord Massachusetts

The Role of Belief in an Orthopraxic Religion (December 2020, #138 in readership)

This post is less than three weeks old, but it didn’t get off to a good start and it shows no signs of having a “long tail” so I’m including it in this list.

My Paganism begins with experience. It is a religion of relationships, and it is orthopraxic not orthodoxic – it’s more important to do the right things than to believe the right things.

But that doesn’t mean belief is unimportant. There’s a place for belief in Paganism, even if it isn’t at the center of our religion(s). In this post, I examine the matter of belief: what it is, how it arises, and how we can develop beliefs that are meaningful and helpful without falling into false and harmful certainty.

I probably should have given this post a click-bait-ish title like “Why Belief Is An Important Part Of Paganism” or something like that. This title accurately describes the post, but it doesn’t scream “read me” to people who aren’t religion nerds.

If you read – or re-read – nothing else from this list, read this one. It’s that important.

Enjoy the Silence (October 2020, #144 in readership)

Traveling in West Texas, I heard something I hadn’t head in years.

Nothing.

Silence.

No radios or televisions. No cars on the road. No planes in the air. No human voices. Just the wind, and it was barely audible as it moved through the mostly treeless landscape.

This is a travel post and travel posts don’t do well. But only the first half is about travel – the travel elements create the context for the magical and spiritual elements in the second half of the post.

Effective magic requires silence. We must listen so we can learn. And silence is a very effective spiritual practice.

Perhaps this post would have done better if I had included Depeche Mode…

Previous Post

December 22, 2020

8 Important Events and Trends in Paganism in 2020

Next Post

December 29, 2020 Top 10 Posts of 2020

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Community CUUPS Druidry Foundations and Context Gods and Goddesses Magic Myth Nature Ritual Spiritual Practice Theology Travel Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Apocalypse" mean in Greek?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Judgment Revelation Victory Destruction