Post-Holiday Blog Roundup

Whilst catching up on what bloggers have been writing over the past two weeks, these posts have stood out.

Spiritually Gifted via To Be Frank – Are some people just born with more capacity for insight, discernment and wisdom? It is a fascinating question for Christian thinkers and one that maybe doesn’t get the traction it should. There are educational studies that connect “spirituality” in various forms with certain learning types.

An Inside Look at Offices via On Coffee – New York magazine has become my latest read following a recommendation from a friend in the publishing business and because they were cool enough to pick up on some comments I made about their piece on parenting. The idea of an “…optimal degree of disorder for efficiency” is a fascinating one. Though, I suspect, my degree of disorder is a lot lower than some of the offices shown.

Study Resources on Firefly and Serenity via Tensegrities – Thanks to mary for reminding me to look at the resources available at Demaris, via Greenflame (a blog that I have started reading regularly).

Understanding Atheists via Philosophy of Friendship – Thoughtful take on the Atheism versus Religion debate. We believers must to cultivate the best expressions of faith that we can, whilst giving space (and challenge) to our atheistic interlocutors to embrace the richness of human experience and the account for the failures of the enlightenment project.

F%@K The World via Interbreeding – (Strong Language Warning) One of the thorniest issues of our times is the way globalisation is accelerating the commodification of sex. The phrase, “sexual imperialism,” really sums up a number of the less well reported, but widespread, aspects of this commodification.

Missional Church in Suburbia via The Space Between My Ears – Tyler Watson has been writing a great series of Theological Reflections on Home Ownership (you can read parts 1-4 here, here, here and here). Whilst preparing the next one he offers up a link to a great piece by Todd Hiestand, called “The Gospel and the God Forsaken: The Challenge of the Missional Church in Suburbia.”

Theologians Start with Questions and Need Humility via GatheringInLight – Great quote and great ideas. Suggests a pedagogy for theological study based on critical humility; I like it!

Creative Play via e~mergent kiwi – I’m fascinated both by the creative tile-mosiac example and also by the extent to which our “…emerging imaginations are formed by our negative experiences of church past.” Certainly for me the latter is something of a struggle.

The Hostile New Age Takeover of Yoga via Delhi Belly – Great satirical piece on the western commodification of Yoga.