"But it is also a very easy to get lost in an unending intellectual pursuit. There are always more books, more articles, more podccasts more substacks, on and on and on." Talk about a powerfult trap / habit. My tendency ,unfortunately, is simultaneous awareness of this trap but also little hesitation in buying by next substack monthly su…
"But it is also a very easy to get lost in an unending intellectual pursuit. There are always more books, more articles, more podccasts more substacks, on and on and on."
Talk about a powerfult trap / habit. My tendency ,unfortunately, is simultaneous awareness of this trap but also little hesitation in buying by next substack monthly subscription!
It seems so "on and on and on."--a real compulsion probably linked to crumbs of recognition/prestige / power which I seem to think I can't do without--even as I close in on the age of 80. In fact, greater and greater awarness of my own mortality often serves to accelerate this knowledge compulsion.
Sunshine- I struggle myself to find some kind of balance in all this. We know that they have deliberately made aspects of the internet as addictive as possible. Yet we are facing a radical and unprecedented shift in what it means to be human. I think it is quite natural to want to understand it. The irony in that so doing it changes us in ways we might not like.
I certainly don't have any answer. In putting our zeal and efforts into the virtual we assist in the emptying out of the real. Is it possible to do both? I hope so, because that is what I am attempting here. The fear is that of getting lost in a very online intellectual pursuit. Can we also build something beautiful in the world? I think we can. Or: I hope we can.
That quote was a wake up call for me too. I've acquired so many books, substacks and podcasts since accepting my Christianity that I risk submerging myself in a maelstrom all of my own making.
And, in the process, losing much of the clarity that brought me here in the first place.
I must therefore thank you deeply Jack, for this beautiful but ultimately very timely essay!
I think it is a very real question whether or not we can engage fully in the very online life and not get sucked into it to our detriment. That said, there are still reasons to take the risk. We are going through a massive and unprecedented shift about what it means to be human. There is a real need, I think, to try to fathom what is happening. The second part, which probably cannot be long delayed, is to start taking practical action in reality. I have no secret formula on how to do it. Maybe the deep realization that we can no longer delay will be enough. I hope so.
I suppose I'm already taking a few small practical steps but it's never easy with a family to provide for. I won't go into that as it's been done to death and is a regularly occurring conundrum that so many face.
I am however spending more time than ever tending our small gardens and attempting to grow and harvest whatever we can. The soil here isn't great, very dense, clay based, and holds a lot of water. It doesn't drain well at all. But it's all a learning curve. I'm also selling many of my possessions that have no practical use. Id love to be able to give it all away to those more needy but what it does, in a small way, is buy time as well as tools and repairs to our aging home.
As for the internet, it's about being disciplined. I spend virtually no time on social media any more and engage even less! Reading the likes of yourself, Paul, Rhyd, Peter and Dougald on here is more than enough. It does teach me a lot as I dive ever deeper into Christianity/the Way but I have to be selective as to which paths I follow. In the last 6 months I've tentatively explored Taoism, Anglicanism, Catholicism, Celtic Christianity and Orthodoxy. To date the only one definitely off the table, so to speak, is Anglicanism. Elements of the others to a lesser or greater degree hold my attention and speak to me on a spiritual level. Especially Taoism, Celtic Christianity and Orthodoxy. Where this will lead I don't yet know, but it's been a wild journey so far and one I never envisaged making.
The problem is there's so much to dive into that's readily available on the net that you can easily lose purpose and focus.
I'll leave it there as I could go on and on, but I am deeply thankful for this community you have brought together and your wonderful essays. I feel very blessed and humble to be a small part of it and to be able to benefit from its collective wisdom.
At the risk of a bad pun, we are all in the same boat (and in the same maelstrom). We do what we can as we can. One of the real benefits of having this discussion online is that we can hopefully help each other deepen our conceptions of what is possible and find practical ways to implement it.
It is my contention that we need not only a deep intellectual understanding of the unprecedented vortex we are caught in; and we do need not only to find practical ways to start to depend on the megasystem less if we can; but the center of what we can do should be some form of silent prayer/meditation/contemplation. Any such practice, of course, is best done within a tradition and within a community of practitioners. That isn't always possible either, so again, we do the best we can.
The deeper we all go into all three elements, i.e., intellectual understanding, practical engagement with the world (and with simply being in the wilderness if possible), and contemplation, the more likely we will begin to come upon insights and ways of being in the world previously hidden from us. That is the hope.
To extend the nautical metaphor, this is an all-hands-on-deck moment.
I am glad you are here with us and part of this conversation. -Jack
Thanks Jack, a lovely, thoughtful response as always.
Amen to every word of that.
One of the key takeaways is very much to focus on what we can do, rather than allow ourselves to be downhearted, frustrated or even angry at what we cannot. I would love to be part of a community, but I have the additional dilemma of not knowing which one, at this early stage. I have to accept that.
Work and family commitments would also make it difficult logistically.
However, I am in a routine now where I pray and quietly contemplate for around 30 to 40 minutes twice a day and it has been of immense value, both physically and mentally. I am also learning to keep God at the forefront of my thoughts as I go through the day. Of course I drift, that's inevitable, but having little reminders around me help to bring focus back.
I'll end with a thought from St John of Kronstadt, which I picked up from The Orthodox Way:
"Prayer is a state of constant gratitude".
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware expanded on this:
"If I do not feel a sense of joy in God's creation, if I forget to offer the world back to God with thankfulness, I have advanced very little along the Way. I have not yet learned to be truly human. For it is only through thanksgiving that I can become myself. Joyful thanksgiving, so far from being escapist or sentimental, is on the contrary entirely realistic - but with the realism of one who sees the world in God, as the divine creation."
What a lovely explanation and one that I can relate to deeply.
It is also a joy to have you as a (virtual!) companion on this journey. Thanks Jack.
"But it is also a very easy to get lost in an unending intellectual pursuit. There are always more books, more articles, more podccasts more substacks, on and on and on."
Talk about a powerfult trap / habit. My tendency ,unfortunately, is simultaneous awareness of this trap but also little hesitation in buying by next substack monthly subscription!
It seems so "on and on and on."--a real compulsion probably linked to crumbs of recognition/prestige / power which I seem to think I can't do without--even as I close in on the age of 80. In fact, greater and greater awarness of my own mortality often serves to accelerate this knowledge compulsion.
Sunshine- I struggle myself to find some kind of balance in all this. We know that they have deliberately made aspects of the internet as addictive as possible. Yet we are facing a radical and unprecedented shift in what it means to be human. I think it is quite natural to want to understand it. The irony in that so doing it changes us in ways we might not like.
I certainly don't have any answer. In putting our zeal and efforts into the virtual we assist in the emptying out of the real. Is it possible to do both? I hope so, because that is what I am attempting here. The fear is that of getting lost in a very online intellectual pursuit. Can we also build something beautiful in the world? I think we can. Or: I hope we can.
-Jack
That quote was a wake up call for me too. I've acquired so many books, substacks and podcasts since accepting my Christianity that I risk submerging myself in a maelstrom all of my own making.
And, in the process, losing much of the clarity that brought me here in the first place.
I must therefore thank you deeply Jack, for this beautiful but ultimately very timely essay!
Andrew-
I think it is a very real question whether or not we can engage fully in the very online life and not get sucked into it to our detriment. That said, there are still reasons to take the risk. We are going through a massive and unprecedented shift about what it means to be human. There is a real need, I think, to try to fathom what is happening. The second part, which probably cannot be long delayed, is to start taking practical action in reality. I have no secret formula on how to do it. Maybe the deep realization that we can no longer delay will be enough. I hope so.
-Jack
I suppose I'm already taking a few small practical steps but it's never easy with a family to provide for. I won't go into that as it's been done to death and is a regularly occurring conundrum that so many face.
I am however spending more time than ever tending our small gardens and attempting to grow and harvest whatever we can. The soil here isn't great, very dense, clay based, and holds a lot of water. It doesn't drain well at all. But it's all a learning curve. I'm also selling many of my possessions that have no practical use. Id love to be able to give it all away to those more needy but what it does, in a small way, is buy time as well as tools and repairs to our aging home.
As for the internet, it's about being disciplined. I spend virtually no time on social media any more and engage even less! Reading the likes of yourself, Paul, Rhyd, Peter and Dougald on here is more than enough. It does teach me a lot as I dive ever deeper into Christianity/the Way but I have to be selective as to which paths I follow. In the last 6 months I've tentatively explored Taoism, Anglicanism, Catholicism, Celtic Christianity and Orthodoxy. To date the only one definitely off the table, so to speak, is Anglicanism. Elements of the others to a lesser or greater degree hold my attention and speak to me on a spiritual level. Especially Taoism, Celtic Christianity and Orthodoxy. Where this will lead I don't yet know, but it's been a wild journey so far and one I never envisaged making.
The problem is there's so much to dive into that's readily available on the net that you can easily lose purpose and focus.
I'll leave it there as I could go on and on, but I am deeply thankful for this community you have brought together and your wonderful essays. I feel very blessed and humble to be a small part of it and to be able to benefit from its collective wisdom.
Andrew-
At the risk of a bad pun, we are all in the same boat (and in the same maelstrom). We do what we can as we can. One of the real benefits of having this discussion online is that we can hopefully help each other deepen our conceptions of what is possible and find practical ways to implement it.
It is my contention that we need not only a deep intellectual understanding of the unprecedented vortex we are caught in; and we do need not only to find practical ways to start to depend on the megasystem less if we can; but the center of what we can do should be some form of silent prayer/meditation/contemplation. Any such practice, of course, is best done within a tradition and within a community of practitioners. That isn't always possible either, so again, we do the best we can.
The deeper we all go into all three elements, i.e., intellectual understanding, practical engagement with the world (and with simply being in the wilderness if possible), and contemplation, the more likely we will begin to come upon insights and ways of being in the world previously hidden from us. That is the hope.
To extend the nautical metaphor, this is an all-hands-on-deck moment.
I am glad you are here with us and part of this conversation. -Jack
Thanks Jack, a lovely, thoughtful response as always.
Amen to every word of that.
One of the key takeaways is very much to focus on what we can do, rather than allow ourselves to be downhearted, frustrated or even angry at what we cannot. I would love to be part of a community, but I have the additional dilemma of not knowing which one, at this early stage. I have to accept that.
Work and family commitments would also make it difficult logistically.
However, I am in a routine now where I pray and quietly contemplate for around 30 to 40 minutes twice a day and it has been of immense value, both physically and mentally. I am also learning to keep God at the forefront of my thoughts as I go through the day. Of course I drift, that's inevitable, but having little reminders around me help to bring focus back.
I'll end with a thought from St John of Kronstadt, which I picked up from The Orthodox Way:
"Prayer is a state of constant gratitude".
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware expanded on this:
"If I do not feel a sense of joy in God's creation, if I forget to offer the world back to God with thankfulness, I have advanced very little along the Way. I have not yet learned to be truly human. For it is only through thanksgiving that I can become myself. Joyful thanksgiving, so far from being escapist or sentimental, is on the contrary entirely realistic - but with the realism of one who sees the world in God, as the divine creation."
What a lovely explanation and one that I can relate to deeply.
It is also a joy to have you as a (virtual!) companion on this journey. Thanks Jack.