I'm happy to support your work any way I can, Graham! Life is busy but I try to keep up with your writing. It's always refreshing and grounding turning my back on the Machine for a bit, using one of its hallmark creations--the internet--spiting it while I take it for what it's worth. I'll get a bigger following myself so I can share your stuff;)
Hello Graham. I will be canceling my subscription. My wife reposed yesterday and I will be gathering things up, getting rid of them, and entering a monastery. I’ve enjoyed following you along your journey and wish you the peace of Christ.
Thanks so much for being here. And for sharing this painful, very real, human, and personal news. May your wife's memory be eternal!
And God bless you on your new journey into the unknown...of which the only thing known is you are journeying into the Father, who loves you, and your wife's one step ahead of you, brother!
peace, peace, peace -- and I will see you on the other side, God willing, one day too.
Hi Graham, I am one who stopped subscribing. After reading what you wrote here I just wanted to let you know I did that not because I don't love what you are doing but just because I want to spend less time on internet, and not spend money on subscriptions. I recently found this song that my mother used to play when I was a child and it reminded me of your poetry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg5CTemZJMg
A love song from our Father, so filled with plant-based imagery! I'm raising 5 girls and fretting about the cultural messages they absorb about their bodies and looks at the moment (in spite of my best efforts). The line, "Your beauty will be like the olive tree.... your fragrance like lebanon" is so perfect.
Thanks for your contributions to the good work of Wild Christianity and know that some of your most appreciative audience may be the least able to support you online, but still glad to know you are there in your place doing your best.
Thanks for the kind note, Clara, and I totally understand!!
And God bless you & your girls -- I've got two young girls myself (and their older brother); working with God to raise them into strong olive trees rooted in the Earth is the one thing that matters most! (One of our girls has the middle name of "Cypress" -- another beautiful, biblical tree conveying the same strength and loveliness in God...)
In my own research, I have looked of what of Orthodox spiritual disciplines bear fruit for appropriate use of technology.
The original subtitle to The Luddite’s Guide to Technology (https://cjshayward.com/lgt) was “Fasting from Technologies,” and I wish I had left it there.
As time has passed, I had originally made little notes about the discipline of silence, but I’ve come to think that it is also a major well to draw on. See Could We Aim for Zero Hours of Unnecessary Screen Time (https://cjshayward.com/screen-time), in which I suggest that right use of screens is like speaking that does not break spiritual silence (one might add to that a comparison to eating that does not break fasting).
I think there’s a lot to draw on in traditional Orthodox ascesis, and it may be worth trying to answer what St. John Chrysostom would have said if he had Internet as well as the theatre and marketplace to deal with. Possibly he would have condemned a medium whose primary use is as a porn delivery service. But if he would have allowed for legitimate use, which I’m not sure he would, I would expect a discussion of disciplined use.
I'm happy to support your work any way I can, Graham! Life is busy but I try to keep up with your writing. It's always refreshing and grounding turning my back on the Machine for a bit, using one of its hallmark creations--the internet--spiting it while I take it for what it's worth. I'll get a bigger following myself so I can share your stuff;)
Thank you, Graham. I wanted to share my story of the past week. I borrowed a couple turn of phrases from Father Zacharius, as you’ll see:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/with-love-for-my-horses?utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1&utm_content=undefined&utm_location=undefined&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_term=undefined
Ah, how beautiful, Tim -- thanks for sharing.
I hope everyone else passing this way reads it.
Memory eternal to Karen!
And journey well, brother!
Hello Graham. I will be canceling my subscription. My wife reposed yesterday and I will be gathering things up, getting rid of them, and entering a monastery. I’ve enjoyed following you along your journey and wish you the peace of Christ.
Tim!
Thanks so much for being here. And for sharing this painful, very real, human, and personal news. May your wife's memory be eternal!
And God bless you on your new journey into the unknown...of which the only thing known is you are journeying into the Father, who loves you, and your wife's one step ahead of you, brother!
peace, peace, peace -- and I will see you on the other side, God willing, one day too.
-graham.
Graham, I so enjoy your blog , I loved Sun Lillies as well. You are a gentle soul . God Bless.
Thanks so much, Leonore!
Hi Graham, I am one who stopped subscribing. After reading what you wrote here I just wanted to let you know I did that not because I don't love what you are doing but just because I want to spend less time on internet, and not spend money on subscriptions. I recently found this song that my mother used to play when I was a child and it reminded me of your poetry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg5CTemZJMg
A love song from our Father, so filled with plant-based imagery! I'm raising 5 girls and fretting about the cultural messages they absorb about their bodies and looks at the moment (in spite of my best efforts). The line, "Your beauty will be like the olive tree.... your fragrance like lebanon" is so perfect.
Thanks for your contributions to the good work of Wild Christianity and know that some of your most appreciative audience may be the least able to support you online, but still glad to know you are there in your place doing your best.
Clara
Thanks for the kind note, Clara, and I totally understand!!
And God bless you & your girls -- I've got two young girls myself (and their older brother); working with God to raise them into strong olive trees rooted in the Earth is the one thing that matters most! (One of our girls has the middle name of "Cypress" -- another beautiful, biblical tree conveying the same strength and loveliness in God...)
-g
P.S. I thought you might like “55 New Maxims for the Cyber-Quarantine” at https://cjshayward.com/55-new-maxims/.
One comment that I was thinking of—
In my own research, I have looked of what of Orthodox spiritual disciplines bear fruit for appropriate use of technology.
The original subtitle to The Luddite’s Guide to Technology (https://cjshayward.com/lgt) was “Fasting from Technologies,” and I wish I had left it there.
As time has passed, I had originally made little notes about the discipline of silence, but I’ve come to think that it is also a major well to draw on. See Could We Aim for Zero Hours of Unnecessary Screen Time (https://cjshayward.com/screen-time), in which I suggest that right use of screens is like speaking that does not break spiritual silence (one might add to that a comparison to eating that does not break fasting).
I think there’s a lot to draw on in traditional Orthodox ascesis, and it may be worth trying to answer what St. John Chrysostom would have said if he had Internet as well as the theatre and marketplace to deal with. Possibly he would have condemned a medium whose primary use is as a porn delivery service. But if he would have allowed for legitimate use, which I’m not sure he would, I would expect a discussion of disciplined use.