Marty Duren once told me he learned the rhythms of blogging by paying attention to site traffic. I do not always abide that advice. I tend to write when the subject comes to me. Sometimes my personal schedule means posts go live at odd times. In the event you missed one of these, here are some thoughts offered this week at The Edge of the Inside.

I should mention that Marty offered a kind compliment at his site in a recent post. He often provokes me to think about matters not on my radar. He also spurs some of the thinking that goes into posts here. He is a friend and often looks for ways to challenge the left and the right when it comes to politics.

It’s the Economy or, A Piratic Snowclone to Challenge the Church

I love neologisms. Reading up on the origins of the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid,” I ran across a reference to snowclones. It occurred to me that this phrase could be used to describe how the phrase could function to alert us to the subtle way the economy often influenced and influences the Church more than our stated commitments to the way of Jesus. And, yes I am guilty too.

God-talk In Conflict or, When Retrospect and Prospect Collide

What we need is a good dose of deconstruction. But, too many immediately consider this destruction. Religious pundits spout accusations of relativizing the truth. They spend much more time assessing the cultural implications often associated with postmodernism than the deeper philosophical turn that helps through the maze created when well meaning people face God-talk over the same event requiring a decision as retrospect or prospect.

Friday Photo – Sunset Line

We found a spot on the shoreline and watched the sun disappear into the horizon. I thought of the poetic description in the Psalter. “It [Sun] rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.” (Ps.19:6)

Coming Monday –

Stephen Keating Undresses Pro-Life Tactics or, Let’s Get Underneath Akin’s Skin