A Very American Question

All weekend, the last thing on my mind was the blog. However, I was continually surprised because Tom would bring it up to people. (Isn't he just so sweet?) While at dinner on Saturday with everyone who was working on the retreat, it came up again and a friend asked how much time a day I spend on it. Tom guessed a couple of hours a day (I have never wanted to keep track, afraid of what I might find out about my "time expenditures"). She turned a penetrating gaze on me and said, "Can you make money with it?"

I told her that making money wasn't the point although you could possibly make a bit but it would never cover the time spent. Her attention was claimed by her husband and I turned to Tom. "What is it that makes every other person ask that question ... as if it isn't worth doing otherwise?"

"It's the American way," he said. "What's the profit margin?"

Which sent us on an extremely brief exchange about the value of doing something purely for the love of it.

However, I was able to have an answer for my friend when she turned back to me. "I'm really so lucky," I said. "The blog has gotten enough attention that I get theology books to review."

We agreed that was very cool and turned our conversation to other areas.

But you and I know that I blog purely for the love of it, just like everyone else.