Yep. I know it's actually Monday. Welcome to my life. :-)

Around the Blogosphere...

Most Relatable: 
Tired of Bronco Bamma and Mitt Romney
(for the back-story, see this "apology" from NPR)

Most bizarre: 
USA Today with “What can Alabama-LSU tell us about this year’s election?”

Most Informative: 
The Atlantic with “Why great sign language interpreters are so animated” 

“Callis was great, but not because she was so lively and animated. She was great because she was performing a seriously difficult mental task -- simultaneously listening and translating on the spot -- in a high-pressure, high-stakes situation. Sure, she was expressive, but that's because she was speaking a visual language. Signers are animated not because they are bubbly and energetic, but because sign language uses face and body movements as part of its grammar.”

Most Eye-Opening (nominated by Meredith Holladay) 
Tamara Mann with "Heartbeat: My Involuntary Miscarriage and 'Voluntary Abortion' in Ohio"

“On June 19, the state of Ohio declared that I had a voluntary abortion. My rabbi and my doctors disagreed. I simply wanted to be pregnant.” 

Most Vulnerable (nominated by Erin Wilson) 
Hope with “Jesus Is a Boob Man”

“So I stood there and let my tears and the shower water mingle reminded that all my grief and gut wrenching pain is being held in hands much bigger than my own.”

Most Beautiful: 
Idelette McVicker at She Loves with “She rises while it is yet night” 

So, I embrace Proverbs 31:15:  ‘She rises while it is yet night …’ Not necessarily in the 4:30am wake up call kind of way, but in the way of rising into the Night that I see all around me and so often struggle with, even within.  The Night that looks like gender inequality, violence, oppression, poverty and suffering.   The Night that looks like not having all my ducks in a row and all my themes clearly abstracted.  The Night that looks like admitting struggle and anguish, but also joy.  I am encouraged because into this very Night–our own and our world’s–women of valor rise

Most Encouraging : 
Jen at Simple Girl with “Taking back the Proverbs 31 Woman”

“For the first time in my life I feel like a Proverb 31 woman. I feel like I may actually make the cut."

Best Theological Discussion: 
“The Trinity in Gender Debates”

“Socialists peer into the Trinity and discern socialism; capitalists capitalism; Catholics see hierarchy; the Orthodox see intercommunion among equals; Baptists see Baptists; egalitarians see only equality, and complementarians see complentarianism.  When we use the image-of-the-Trinity strategy, we tend to find what we want to find.” 

Best Imagery:
Preston Yancey with “Then I like being naïve” 

“But the table will be full, for it is always full, and you’ll be placed in the midst of the guests and given a plate—thous hast prepared a table before me—you’ll be poured wine or, perhaps, water, or a nectar so sweet that you should wish to never drink anything else. The person to your right has loved you more than you could ever understand; the person to your left you have sometimes hated, though you’ll find it hard now to remember why.”

Best Response (I found this both encouraging and convicting):
Rachel Stone with “The Hermeneutics of Love”

“…We don’t get to toss out the Greatest Commandment and the one “like unto it” in so doing. To paraphrase Marilynne Robinson, claiming a particular kind of religious identity, and marking out its boundaries, is not more important than abiding in the kind of love that that identity should imply."

Best Storytelling (nominated by Kim Van Brunt) 
Amanda Williams at Deeper Story with “And so we are carried along” 

“Why did I feel so self-conscious of those orange vouchers even now, a full year in? I only brought out the folder when feeling especially brave; most days I scanned the lists with it tucked out of sight in my bag. Our friends and family knew – to them I sang WIC’s praises, unashamed – but strangers and acquaintances were a different matter. It felt too personal, too tender. Oh, the formula costs must be outrageous, friends would say and nod with understanding. But the truth is we were relieved when it paid for the milk and cheese, too.”

Wisest:
Seven-year-old Sarah Bogel, who borrowed her mom Anne’s blog for the day

“If your friend moves away she can still be your friend.” 

Bravest: 
The Washington Post with “Maisie Kate Miller’s passive resistance, pigtail style, tames a bully and shows us how”

Most Likely to Make You Cheer...and Change:
Sarah Bessey with "In which we will subvert the system for good"

Most Likely to Put Election Day in Perspective: 
Election Day Communion

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I know I missed some good stuff this week. What caught your eye online this week? What's happening on your blog?