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Guest post by Marcus Goodyear who writes over at GoodWord Editing

Here are the twelve best lessons I learned throughout 2008, with a little excerpt from each post:

Ignite the Average Joe, One Slob at a Time

No matter how cool he is, Guy Kawasaki can no more easily turn the tide of American trends than the Commander of an aircraft carrier can single handedly turn the ship around. Sure, the Commander can turn the wheel. But for that wheel to work, he depends on the non-commissioned officers throughout the ship.

Time Is Relative So Why Shouldn’t Faith Be Relative?

Relativism isn’t just a cop-out. It stems from real doubts that have a substantive foundation in hard science, social science, and literary theory. To dismiss these doubts as simply naive and foolish is the weakest of strawman arguments. Moral relativism may be misinformed. It may be a false conclusion. But it is hardly a naive stance. It is hardly disconnected from reality. It is in fact, an honest attempt to understand the philosophical implications of what quantum physics is revealing about reality.

Once Upon a Time I Was a Guinea Pig

In college, I was part of an ergonomic* study to measure the long-term effects of standing. Basically, that means I went to work every night and just stood around for several hours.

I used to think standing around was something people did to take a break. I stopped working to stand. I never realized that standing was its own kind of work. And it’s hard–after I’ve done everything, to stand.

My Take on Writing – a Poem for Friday

Lately, I’ve been writing hard, more professionally than years past, which means also a bit more mechanically. Some words are needed, so I crank them out.

But poetry is so useless, it’s only good for play. The movement of a poem isn’t going to take me anywhere in particular. I’m just here swinging with the words. Up and back. Up and back.

Twitter Church, I Love Your Stinky Kind of Beauty

If something is true, it will also be beautiful. Something that is true and stinky, still has a stinky kind of beauty. Sound crazy? Have you ever had limburger cheese? Or anchovies? They are truly delightful-and their stench is part of their beauty.

The Secret to a Better Attitude

When my mother-in-law watched this with us, she was horrified. The song does trample on the protestant work ethic a bit. But I think there’s more to it than that.

Somehow, like in the little song, my work flows out of my rest. So that I say, “Oh yes, I also practice trumpet every day.” Or “Oh yes, I also edit words every day.”

Do We Really Want Our President on Twitter?

Is the office of the president going to start getting distracted by Twitter? Is this what good leaders do? If leaders should engage the web 2.0 crowd-and that argument seems more and more plausible-how in the world can the leader of the free world stay on top of basic time management without creating a Twitter ghost, an Obama comments ghost, maybe even a Wag the Dog Obama Youtube ghost?

Pirate Ship Tree House Is Finally Done

This post is exactly what it sounds like. Pictures of the pirate ship tree house we built this summer in our back yard.

How to edit poetry and meter

In poems, I never tell the moral. The power is in the image. Trust the truth of the image alone. If you capture an honest picture or an honest image, it will be more powerful than any truth you can impose on it.

Disqus Comments, Lijit Search, Better Sidebars and Lederhosen

Spent a little bit of time working with Disqus and Lijit today to learn how to best help the members of HighCallingBlogs.com. Here’s what I’d like you to do. Leave a comment here telling me if you think I should keep wearing lederhosen or not. When you do, see what you think of the Disqus plugin.

Some Hard Questions About God for Thanksgiving

I can count the deep relationships of my life on one hand. I’d love to put God there, but I don’t know how. For me a relationship is about listening. I sit with my dad in a coffee shop and we talk about poetry. I talk, he listens. He talks, I listen. We listen to each other. But my relationship with God always feels like a series of disconnected monologues. God writes the Bible. Two thousand years later I send up some lame prayers from time to time.

Generosity Brings Life into the World

Ajax is the perfect little dog, but we almost lost him several years ago. My wife and I bought Ajax just a few months after we married because our first apartment had a rat problem. He’s a rat terrier. That doesn’t mean he looks like a rat. It means he’s bred to catch them. And he did his job very well.

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Howdy, readers of Robert’s blog. I’m Marcus Goodyear, senior editor for TheHighCalling.org, HighCallingBlogs.com, and Christianity Today’s FaithInTheWorkplace.com. I also participate in a bunch of Robert’s writing projects at my own blog GoodWordEditing.com. In fact, reviewing the year, I was surprised to see how many of my favorite posts began from a WILF prompt right here at Middle Zone Musings. Thanks Robert!

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[Further note from the Proprietor: Hey, if you're interested in having your own "best of 2008" posts highlighted right here at the Middle Zone, then by all means, click on this link: (BLOGAPALOOZA: What I Learned From 2008) and read all about it! BLOGAPALOOZA will be open for entries from now until Sunday, January 25.]

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