Is there any Hope?

"Hi, my name is Michael and I am an MBWR addict."

Fellow Methoblogosphere members return the greeting: "Hi, Michael."

"It all began quite innocently enough. I had just begun a blog and had published a few items here and there. Of course there was much I did not know about the whole blogging business and I was getting very few hits, so what was going to be my last post got a response from this guy who would only refer to himself as 'John the Methodist'. He said, 'Get thee a blogroll.'"

"Had I known then what I know now, I may have stepped back. I mean, it all seemed so simple. Join a "club", get your blog listed on a roll, read other blogs, and have others read yours. It was so compelling, I was completely taken in. It was something I wanted to be a part of, and of course there are some very good articles of religion, politics, humor, you name it! What normal human person would not want to be a part of such??"

"It only began as the weekly summary of as much as could possibly be included. But I think just to draw me in a little deeper, 'John the Methodist' listed MY blog and what I had written in the past week. Only a few weeks later, I was rated a "BEST". My life was no longer my own. John the Methodist had completely taken over the very fabric of my being."

"I had hoped that perhaps one day there may be help for someone like me, someone innocently wanting to read and be read. I never intended to go this far. I mean, it's like a trance every Monday."

"Once he was late putting out the MBWR. LATE?? Not there??? What could it mean? Could it have possibly all been a hoax? How could he do this to us? How could he do this to ME?? I thought I was special; I thought we had something meaningful. Then it suddenly occured to me: he is only known as 'John the Methodist'. No one really knows who he is. We THINK he goes to school at Asbury in Orlando, but no one seems to know for sure. I mean, how do you track down someone who seems to move as the wind blows?"

"What finally made me realize that it was not me, that it never was me, was when I discovered rabbits. He never cared about me, he was never concerned for my well-being. He just wanted me to see the @@*&#^$*&# rabbits! 'Look how cuddly, look how cute..' And I noticed that in all his pictures, there were no rabbit PELLETS! No pellets??? How could this be?? It was then when I realized that I had been duped. It was grand conspiracy, a major deception. But by then it was too late. I was hooked."

"I need help. I mean, how do we know that this MBWR is not some faceless outfit in India where people who don't even speak or read English just make this stuff up? How can we know there really is a guy named 'John the Methodist'? What are we supposed to hold on to?"

"I .... feel .... so .... lost ......"