Safe Haven

5 Catholic Thoughts On The 50 Day Blowout Known As Easter 5. This "false church" really knows how to throw a party. 4. If the Reformers were so great, why do they devote only one 24 hour period to the most important event in human history? 3. Good luck proclaiming the Lord's death with a piece of bread. 2. I got nailed with that holy water 2 years ago. I'm giving that successor to the Apostles the side-eye until further notice. 1. I prayed the Rosary for you; deal with it.

What is a "free market," anyway? Reason Magazine's slogan is, "Free Minds and Free Markets," and you hear politicians pay at least lip service to the idea, so we should probably define what it is we are talking about. I have a working definition. A free market is a voluntary mutually beneficial exchange of goods or services between two or more parties. What can be traded might be affected by regulations, laws, or basic human morality, but the basic definition is pretty straightforward. Notice that my definition, which I certainly must have stolen from somewhere, need not be applied  to exclusively economic matters, though it certainly includes that. Also, when you hear people say that government is getting in the way of the free market, what they most likely mean is that the voluntary nature of an otherwise beneficial relationship is being thwarted unnecessarily on one side or the other, perhaps to the extent that a trade never takes place. Something that preve...

Apparently, my musical destiny is to listen to Audrey Assad's 2012 release, "Heart" 1000 times. I have never heard anything like this in my life. I hate Christian music. No, I'm serious. Because it's stupid. Either you can tell that the person doesn't believe what they're singing about, or this Jesus they love so fervently can't do anything about anything that matters. That isn't what the Bible says. And music is supposed to grab your soul and not let go. When is the last time a Jesus record did that to you? Babyface may be a fornicating pervert, but he knows how to make songs you remember. A great song forces you to reckon with it; it alters the sonic world you live in. Audrey Assad alters my sonic world. There's no point in talking about individual tracks; we're talking about an entire album that's going to change popular music, not just Christian music. I'm not a critic, and I'm certainly not an expert. But this is nuts. Th...

What do I think of Audrey Assad ? Well, if John Mayer played the piano, had a voice to die for, and went to Mass, (and was a pretty girl) he'd be Audrey Assad. Which is to say, she's mind-blowingly awesome. Don't even doubt it. Wow. I told you the Carpenters were fantastic. Audrey listened to them and James Taylor as a kid, among others. She doesn't sound like them, but she has good taste.

I tend to say exactly what I think. I admit it's not always wise. I try hard not to speak in anger, because when you speak from anger, you're more motivated to hurt than to tell the truth in love. I digress. I took a big risk today, although it was less than direct. I hope I've built up enough trust here; I'm just not good at denial. It wasn't a rebuke, or anything. Returning to the digression, sometimes the truth hurts a person anyway, and there's not a whole lot you can do. Maybe it could have been a simple matter of saying, 'I'm just not comfortable here' way sooner. Because you'd rather be the one to say you've hit the limit of your abilities as a friend than them. One is liable to be pretty hurt and take it all very personally if that happens. Not that I would know. It was an interesting weekend. I stayed with my 'brother' Evan and his wife Stacey. Stacey's sister threw a party for Cinco de Mayo, and it was awesome. We shou...