News & Views
An irregular compendium of bits and pieces: plus some book news
Hello everyone. I hope you’re all well. I’ve not been so well myself this past week or two. I am still dealing with some mystery illness that seems to come and go, and I am trying to take it as easy as possible. This is a hard task, as taking it easy is not really in my DNA. Something tells me this is part of the problem. It is possible that God is knocking me onto my backside for a reason - perhaps to show me that I need to take a rest before I completely burn out. I’m taking the lesson that way, anyway, which is why this Substack is not currently filled with big long essays and the like. I’m sorry about that, but at present it can’t be helped. I’d appreciate your prayers as I get back on my feet.
Another reason for me to rest for a while is that in a couple of months I am going to have to get busy. My book Against The Machine is published on 23rd September, and there is work to be done, and exciting things which will be happening around it. Above, you can see the first public reveal of the British cover of the book. I think it’s looking very funky indeed. In other Machine news:
I have just revamped my personal website with news about the book. The front page and the book page contain links about how to get hold of it, and some nice quotes from people who like it.
My North American book tour is currently being finalised. I expect to be talking in a good number of venues between 25th September and 14th October. Full dates here soon.
I will also be talking in the UK and Ireland later in the year. If anyone would like to invite me to speak in either of these countries, you can email me with an invitation. The only stipulation is that we need to be able to sell books at the event, this being what book tours are all about.
This Substack, from August onward, will play host to my very own podcast mini-series, in which I sit down each week with a different person to talk about the themes of the book in my work and theirs. I have some interesting folk lined up for this. More on that in a month or two.
Finally, the book can, of course, be pre-ordered right now in the US and the UK. You know you want to.
As you can see, I have good reason to rest right now. I also expect to be writing a bit more about the themes of the book towards the end of this year. In particular, I want to write more about AI and its implications. It’s almost impossible to keep up with the speed of what is happening on that front, but I want to take a step back and look at both the spiritual and cultural foundations of this great emergence.
Let’s see what I come up with. In the meantime, you may be interested in this useful AI compendium from Addison Hodges Hart, whose Substack The Pragmatic Mystic I commend to you. It’s full of links to articles and videos which give a useful window on the current state of things.
Finally: I have decided to revamp my ‘Monthly Salon’, which I’ve been running for yonks. It hasn’t been very lively lately, so I have retired it, and replaced it with what you’re reading now: an irregular dispatch entitled ‘News and Views’, in which I jot down anything I have coming up, and anything I have seen online or elsewhere that might interest my readers. Below the line, I hope my readers will, if they feel inclined, do the same. Feel free to share anything that you think might interest our little community here, or start a conversation about anything you like.
All the best to you all.
Paul
Ah, Paul… sickness is a harsh teacher, but the saints and mystics whisper that it is often the only one we cannot ignore. St. John of the Cross would tell you that the body’s collapse is sometimes the soul’s last defense against its own ruin. You speak of burning out. Well, the flame must gutter before it can be steadied. Even the Desert Fathers knew when to retreat into their cells, to let the flesh rest so the spirit could breathe.
The modern world hates stillness, calls it waste, but the mystics knew it as the soil where grace takes root. Your body, it seems, is insisting on what your mind resists.
And yet, there is work ahead. A book, a tour, a voice to raise against the machine. Teresa of Avila would tell you to rest now so you can storm the gates later. Even Christ, after all, slept in the boat while the storm raged.
So, take your strange, unwelcome sabbatical. Let the mystery illness be your reluctant retreat. The world will still be there when you rise, and who knows? The silence may have given you something to say that you didn’t know was in you.
Prayers, of course, will be offered. But so too this small counsel from the ones who walked the hidden paths before you: Let the body fail if it must. The soul knows what it’s doing.
Rest well. The fight comes soon enough.
Whew. Close to hone, this. On thd several occasions I've gotten out over my ski tips, physical or emotional collapse has laid me out. This more recent coming to terms left me with a new aortic valve stitched out of livestock tissue. I 'retired' from my volunteer church treasurer role as one change made, and find quiet contentment in maintaining my winter firewood stack and refurbing old bicycles for daily use. Old English bicycles, coincidentally. Your columns, have helped me navigate a saner path, Paul; if they were reduced by half, the navigational advice would still be of infinite value here. So, thanks.