Six Months of Blogging: A Note to My Readers

I am deeply grateful to the various readers who stop by Ad Orientem from time to time and especially to those who contribute with their comments. Also I would like to express my gratitude to those who have passed on to others the existence of my blog, in some cases with very flattering recommendations. I know that several bloggers have linked AO on their own web sites. Some of them are blogs which I have a very high regard for and read regularly. (A partial list of web sites I look at can be found in the left column.) If you have linked AO to your website and I am not aware of it please drop me a line. I also welcome comments questions and suggestions. My email address is posted above.

In closing I thought I would take a quick minute to answer a few questions which I have received from readers. I am paraphrasing the questions.

Q How often do you post new comments or articles?

A) It varies. I do not have a particular schedule and there will be times when I will be busy or there just may not be much that moves me to write. However as a rule I try to post at least several times a week and sometimes on a near daily basis. The exception is Sundays, when I do not generally post unless something of importance comes up. If I know I will not be posting for more than a few days I will try to put up a notice on AO to let everyone know.

Q) You are Orthodox but often post on matters about the Roman Catholic Church. Why?

A) I was formerly Roman Catholic and retain an interest in what goes on in the Western Church. Some Orthodox are very hostile to Rome and others take a “who cares” approach to all things Roman. But like it or not Roman Catholicism is by far the largest Christian denomination. Its influence in the world is profound and it can not be ignored. Also the RCC continues to promote moral values that are largely the same as those held in Orthodoxy. As the Patriarchate of Moscow has noted, the very real theological differences separating us do not preclude cooperation in many other areas of common interest.

Q) Ad Orientem seems sometimes to be lacking in focus (I am paraphrasing a critical comment from one reader). Is it a religious blog or one about the Mets or what?

A) It is a blog that reflects my interests. To the extent that it is disorganized that could well describe aspects of my life. The principal focus of my life is my faith, Orthodox Catholic Christianity. That is reflected by the theme of the majority of my posts (I think). However I do have a life outside of church and I do have other interests including politics, social issues and baseball. For those of you who are sick of the Mets, sorry. The season is almost over. Just deal with it.

Q) Why all of the really long articles? Other sites keep the posts a lot shorter.

A). Because short articles or excerpted ones often do not cover an issue adequately. Deep subjects often require more than a few paragraphs to even scratch the surface. And on a personal note I am not a fan of fast food theology.