Hey Mike! If there's a couple of specific pieces you have in mind, let me know, and I can just take the paywall down on those. Otherwise, God willing I'm hoping to unpause and relaunch shortly -- like in the next week or so.
Wonderful news! I found you via Martin Shaw and my friend Ragan Sutterfield. Maybe the second and third essays…? When the option to become a paid subscriber returns, I’ll happily pony up. For now, free seems the only option.
How goes it? Re-read your post and a quote from Mark Twain came to mind. “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is like the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug.” Peace. Isaiah 30:15. one of my homeboy scriptures
It goes, brother -- thanks for checking. Opportunities are on the horizon, making progress towards them, hope to give an update in a month, maybe. Quietly and very slowly working on some writing which will only come out in the form of a physical book, God willing. Man I love, love that word from Isaiah -- thanks for sharing. Keep growing that righteous beard!
Little Brother, you have my continuing prayers. I see you as one of a few -- enough! -- preparing a vision for us all. The "modern mind" has had its way and what next? A change as profound as that from Newton to Einstein. If your physics and math are not sufficient, your eye and heart will be, as you contemplate Our Lord's revelation of Himself as THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. May He richly bless you.
I’m new to your writing but have found it resonates with something deeper than any one term can hold, I think Anthony DeMello once said something about the nature of truth, that it’s difficult to pin down but if you’re open to it you’ll see it when it arrives, your writing has the feel of truth about it and sunlilies was beautiful. Have a good break and look forward to hearing from you again in the not too distant future.
Dec 23, 2023·edited Dec 23, 2023Liked by Graham Pardun
Hey, Graham—I just wanted to note that I paused my subscription not because of any problem at all with your content, but rather because I personally was developing a Substack problem. As in, I was getting so invested in all the great content on here that I was falling a little behind on my actual responsibilities. So I made a prudential call to cut back on almost all of my subscriptions until I had more time on my hands and/or figured out how to strike a better balance. In short, it had nothing to do with you.
Anyway, merry Christmas to you! And I hope the next phase of your journey goes well.
I’ve never read your ‘stuff’ as you call it, until today. I am all the way with you in your perception of the future and hope to hear more when your writing picks up again. I find poetry to be the best journal of my journey so perhaps jot down some words that make sense in poetic form, even if just for you. "Poetic diction" as Owen Barfield said. We may benefit too one day. May you find what you need for now. God bless.
Graham, I will be one of your many readers waiting eagerly for the return of your writing. I wish you the best of luck in finding a rewarding job very soon. And can I please just say how honestly shocked I am to read that you are losing followers with each post? If this is happening to you, what hope is there for the rest of us? Your writing is one of my favorite things on Substack, it is wild and glorious and always rewires my thoughts. It is written with so much integrity and authenticity that it seems to enlarge the world. I am so glad for each essay you have posted. People often do not recognize treasure in their midst, so do not lose heart. Until we 'meet' again!
Thanks, Natasha -- and I'm definitely going to try to get away from the Screen quite a bit, but you know I'll definitely be reading Florilegium still! Of course!
As far as the attrition of paying subs goes -- it hasn't been an avalanche or anything, just a steady flow in the wrong direction. God willing, it will turn around and go back the other way ( or I'll draw a line between this whole thing and money, and it won't matter). In the long run, I'm not worried about it. But the long run is neither here nor there when the short run needs attention! So, I'm hoping to give it the attention it needs, and then come back later and let the long run work itself out in its own time.
Yeah, who knows. There's a lot to think about in the world, a lot going on -- too much. I can barely manage the very small list of substacks I read myself.
In a perfect world, there would be no need for money, I would only write paper books, and all of us who only met here would live in a big village face-to-face and share interesting ideas with one another.
Good luck you are such an excellent writer and it would be such a pity if you stopped writing altogether. That’s why I was very pleased to hear that your anti Machine essays will be published eventually. But quite frankly I kind of felt in a year or so that your writing run out of gasoline. It went too abstract. You probably need I a proper job to bring in other perspectives in your writing. It will get you back on track again. And quite frankly I think that the competition is devastating. Not everyone can support themselves here on Substack by their own writing. Another aspect is that everyone’s time is limited. You can only have a limited number of publications. And yes I have done something I never thought I would do. I have once again started a subscription on a daily newspaper. I felt like I was too cut of from the rest of the world. People do change don’t they?
All the best to you and your family, Graham! I understand why you need to step away but know that I get so much out of your writing. I will be rereading Sunlillies and giving away copies as gifts for the rest of my life. Please do keep us all posted as to how you're doing and where you land on the job front. God bless you!
That's so kind, Joseph! I'm glad Sunlilies has meant something to you.
And I certainly will post about it all when I'm on my feet again. Wherever I land, I'll be sure to tell the first tales of the new adventure, God willing...
Yours is the only substack I read consistently, your writing has been very valuable for me and I cherish that little book. You did something special here and who knows where it fits in the bigger story of your life. Wishing you sucess with where you are focuses now & looking forward to more writing whenever it might come 🙏☀️🌿
Dear Graham, I have not posted before but always value your very profound posts...and your psalms (absolutely beautiful) and my copy of Sunlilies. You have been gifted with a very special vision of the Kingdom and you point to it in so many beautiful ways. I don't know whether this is Orthodoxy...I think it is even more broad. To me your writing is a sign of the green shoots of something new, bright and hopeful, directly from God, breaking into our world and reminding us of the continual process of loving transformation which is at the heart of all things. Rest well in your time of retreat. In returning and rest is our salvation. With blessings from Clare
Thanks so much for this, Clare. If you haven't posted before, then this was certainly worth the wait. "A sign of the green shoots of something new, bright and hopeful, directly from God, breaking into our world and reminding us of the continual process of loving transformation which is at the heart of all things" -- that's it exactly -- my deepest yearnings and aspirations as a writer are to be more and more in tune with that, and only that. Just that.
GP, saying no to Substack (for now) means saying yes to more important things (family). Don’t stop writing as I am sure you won’t. Maybe pulling back and posting less often is the answer, selfishly so we can still hear from you.
Sunlilies was eye opening for me and brought back to life a daily practice of “quiet time”. THANK YOU!
Thanks for encouraging me to attend The Divine Liturgy in Madison with you, Sonia, David, Cheryl and Brad... My first Orthodox service that I will never forget.
Is there option during the pause to become a paid subscriber so that I can read the full texts of the posts?
Hey Mike! If there's a couple of specific pieces you have in mind, let me know, and I can just take the paywall down on those. Otherwise, God willing I'm hoping to unpause and relaunch shortly -- like in the next week or so.
Wonderful news! I found you via Martin Shaw and my friend Ragan Sutterfield. Maybe the second and third essays…? When the option to become a paid subscriber returns, I’ll happily pony up. For now, free seems the only option.
OK, the walls of artificial scarcity have been tumbled on essay #2 and essay #3 -- hope you enjoy. And glad you're here!
How goes it? Re-read your post and a quote from Mark Twain came to mind. “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is like the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug.” Peace. Isaiah 30:15. one of my homeboy scriptures
It goes, brother -- thanks for checking. Opportunities are on the horizon, making progress towards them, hope to give an update in a month, maybe. Quietly and very slowly working on some writing which will only come out in the form of a physical book, God willing. Man I love, love that word from Isaiah -- thanks for sharing. Keep growing that righteous beard!
Little Brother, you have my continuing prayers. I see you as one of a few -- enough! -- preparing a vision for us all. The "modern mind" has had its way and what next? A change as profound as that from Newton to Einstein. If your physics and math are not sufficient, your eye and heart will be, as you contemplate Our Lord's revelation of Himself as THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. May He richly bless you.
PHI, thanks so much -- really. Thank you.
Dear Graham
I’m new to your writing but have found it resonates with something deeper than any one term can hold, I think Anthony DeMello once said something about the nature of truth, that it’s difficult to pin down but if you’re open to it you’ll see it when it arrives, your writing has the feel of truth about it and sunlilies was beautiful. Have a good break and look forward to hearing from you again in the not too distant future.
Hey, Graham—I just wanted to note that I paused my subscription not because of any problem at all with your content, but rather because I personally was developing a Substack problem. As in, I was getting so invested in all the great content on here that I was falling a little behind on my actual responsibilities. So I made a prudential call to cut back on almost all of my subscriptions until I had more time on my hands and/or figured out how to strike a better balance. In short, it had nothing to do with you.
Anyway, merry Christmas to you! And I hope the next phase of your journey goes well.
Beautiful, man, I need exactly the same break from substack myself!
And merry Christmas to you as well, brother -- see you in a few [unit of time not specified] ;)
I’ve never read your ‘stuff’ as you call it, until today. I am all the way with you in your perception of the future and hope to hear more when your writing picks up again. I find poetry to be the best journal of my journey so perhaps jot down some words that make sense in poetic form, even if just for you. "Poetic diction" as Owen Barfield said. We may benefit too one day. May you find what you need for now. God bless.
Graham you're the man. Take it easy brother and God bless you.
Graham, I will be one of your many readers waiting eagerly for the return of your writing. I wish you the best of luck in finding a rewarding job very soon. And can I please just say how honestly shocked I am to read that you are losing followers with each post? If this is happening to you, what hope is there for the rest of us? Your writing is one of my favorite things on Substack, it is wild and glorious and always rewires my thoughts. It is written with so much integrity and authenticity that it seems to enlarge the world. I am so glad for each essay you have posted. People often do not recognize treasure in their midst, so do not lose heart. Until we 'meet' again!
Thanks, Natasha -- and I'm definitely going to try to get away from the Screen quite a bit, but you know I'll definitely be reading Florilegium still! Of course!
As far as the attrition of paying subs goes -- it hasn't been an avalanche or anything, just a steady flow in the wrong direction. God willing, it will turn around and go back the other way ( or I'll draw a line between this whole thing and money, and it won't matter). In the long run, I'm not worried about it. But the long run is neither here nor there when the short run needs attention! So, I'm hoping to give it the attention it needs, and then come back later and let the long run work itself out in its own time.
Anyway -- so glad to know you're here.
I’m not going anywhere. Also, I’m surprised to hear that people are tuning out. One wonders why
Good to hear, Matthew, thank you.
Yeah, who knows. There's a lot to think about in the world, a lot going on -- too much. I can barely manage the very small list of substacks I read myself.
In a perfect world, there would be no need for money, I would only write paper books, and all of us who only met here would live in a big village face-to-face and share interesting ideas with one another.
Good luck you are such an excellent writer and it would be such a pity if you stopped writing altogether. That’s why I was very pleased to hear that your anti Machine essays will be published eventually. But quite frankly I kind of felt in a year or so that your writing run out of gasoline. It went too abstract. You probably need I a proper job to bring in other perspectives in your writing. It will get you back on track again. And quite frankly I think that the competition is devastating. Not everyone can support themselves here on Substack by their own writing. Another aspect is that everyone’s time is limited. You can only have a limited number of publications. And yes I have done something I never thought I would do. I have once again started a subscription on a daily newspaper. I felt like I was too cut of from the rest of the world. People do change don’t they?
Kind regards and good luck
Anders
I love your writing. An oasis for the soul. Come back refreshed.
Thanks, Bridget!
All the best to you and your family, Graham! I understand why you need to step away but know that I get so much out of your writing. I will be rereading Sunlillies and giving away copies as gifts for the rest of my life. Please do keep us all posted as to how you're doing and where you land on the job front. God bless you!
That's so kind, Joseph! I'm glad Sunlilies has meant something to you.
And I certainly will post about it all when I'm on my feet again. Wherever I land, I'll be sure to tell the first tales of the new adventure, God willing...
Yours is the only substack I read consistently, your writing has been very valuable for me and I cherish that little book. You did something special here and who knows where it fits in the bigger story of your life. Wishing you sucess with where you are focuses now & looking forward to more writing whenever it might come 🙏☀️🌿
Thanks so much, Lucy! These are good, helpful words.
And symbols, too, of all that's needed: prayer, sunshine, the olive branch of shalom.
Yes.
Dear Graham, I have not posted before but always value your very profound posts...and your psalms (absolutely beautiful) and my copy of Sunlilies. You have been gifted with a very special vision of the Kingdom and you point to it in so many beautiful ways. I don't know whether this is Orthodoxy...I think it is even more broad. To me your writing is a sign of the green shoots of something new, bright and hopeful, directly from God, breaking into our world and reminding us of the continual process of loving transformation which is at the heart of all things. Rest well in your time of retreat. In returning and rest is our salvation. With blessings from Clare
Thanks so much for this, Clare. If you haven't posted before, then this was certainly worth the wait. "A sign of the green shoots of something new, bright and hopeful, directly from God, breaking into our world and reminding us of the continual process of loving transformation which is at the heart of all things" -- that's it exactly -- my deepest yearnings and aspirations as a writer are to be more and more in tune with that, and only that. Just that.
peace!
GP, saying no to Substack (for now) means saying yes to more important things (family). Don’t stop writing as I am sure you won’t. Maybe pulling back and posting less often is the answer, selfishly so we can still hear from you.
Sunlilies was eye opening for me and brought back to life a daily practice of “quiet time”. THANK YOU!
Thanks for encouraging me to attend The Divine Liturgy in Madison with you, Sonia, David, Cheryl and Brad... My first Orthodox service that I will never forget.
Peace in Yeshua
Jeff! What a blast that was -- we were all so delighted when you actually showed up for Liturgy! How wild! What a weekend!
And thanks for the encouragement, too. And I'm so glad to hear you recognized something in Sunlilies, something helpful -- that means the world to me.
peace, brother, and hope to see you again some day!
Encore by Helen Conway here in Substack, “Finding a Place to Be” speaks so much to where you might be right now I wanted to share it with you.
Just read it -- thanks so much for sharing, it's beautiful. And highly recommended to everyone else, if so inclined: https://helenconway.substack.com/p/finding-a-place-to-be