Speaking of “What Child Is This,” I only recently learned that music of the Orthodox hymn “Agni Parthene” was inspired by the tune of “Greensleeves.” (Lyrics of “Agni Parthene” of course by St. Nectarios of Aegina.) So there’s your unexpected connection between traditional English music and Orthodoxy.
Yes—I know that “What Child Is This” and “Greensleeves” are the same tune. :) But I never connected “Agni Parthene” with it though! There are some divergences, but the open line of “Agni Parthene” is almost the same. I’m sure someone more experienced in choral music can point out the other similarities.
I am a Western person that has been entranced by the East ever since I was a child, and I had some opportunities to live in Eastern Europe as a student. I love to see where the East and West meet. This song, and its history, feels like a delightful bridge between the two.
St. Nektarios did not put it to music. I believe monks at one of the monasteries on the Holy Mountain did. Someone correct me if I’m wrong. It’s something I heard.
I was told on Mt Athos that the melody for Agni Parthene came in a dream to the melodist... (Of course that does not make it true!) , but it's an interesting subtext to a piece of music which does to my ears at least, undoubtedly does possess a rather unearthly quality to it.
I'm no musical expert, far from it, but it's relationship to "Greensleeves" (itself supposed to be a composition of Henry VIII? 🤔) to me, seems tenuous.
Multiple sources say no, that the melody was written in the 1970s after a monk heard “Greensleeves.” The lyrics, written by St. Nektarios, did come from a dream though.
I'm convinced there are far more connections between traditional English things and Orthodox than the wider world cares to admit. On music specifically, the mysterious, modal tunes of Wexford and Hereford carols evoke similar movements as byzantine chant without, of course, the quarter tones, etc. Glory to God for this beauty :)
Some American shape note singing sounds somewhat Byzantine-Slavic, and that has its roots in England via the New England Puritans. A good example is the tune "Idumea," used so effectively as the background music for the opening battle scene in the film Cold Mountain. I'm not sure if there's any real connection, however, other than the use of similar scales/modes. Some Celtic music sounds very "Asian" for that reason.
Nevertheless, I've long felt that if Orthodox and Catholic folks sang our traditional hymns with half the gusto of the Sacred Harp singers, we wouldn't have to worry about empty pews!
Well, it may have been "inspired by", but to my ear that's the extent of it. The meter is the same and the harmonic structures resemble one another at the ends of some of the phrases, but in the rest of the phrases they don't, and the melody is really not that close. The opening to Greensleeves on the scale is 1 3 45 65 4 2 flat7, and Agni Parthene is 1 1 2 3 3 432 1 - the melodies similarly diverge through the rest of the songs. Church music in both the east and west was patterned after particular groups of notes called "modes", and 16th century English music still remembers that history. I don't mean to diminish anyone's enjoyment of the music, or inspiration from it - I myself love them both. It may be that we in the contemporary west are not used to hearing songs in minor keys with modal structure, so we think that two songs so structured "sound the same".
(I can hear it now: There's someone going all technical and sucking the wonder out of things! Dear friends, knowing how and why something "works" can also increase the wonder in the beauty - in farming, physics & chemistry, weaving, painting - and music.)
With respect to ‘Beauty Matters, which defends not only beauty but other old-fashioned things like art, literature and truth’,
I have just read - reread after some many years - Sheldon Vanauken’s book A Severe Mercy. In it, I relearned how some find beauty and joy in the world, and perhaps more so in God’s Grace, and about what mercy - sometimes severe - means to a life lived for Christ. I mention this here - not perhaps a ‘Christmas story’ - but certainly an important Christian story that might bless some of you…
This book had a profound impact on me when I first read it many, many years ago. Thanks for mentioning it — it’s time for me to dust off my old copy and read it again!
I had forgotten all about A Severe Mercy, but it impacted me greatly when I read it many years ago. Maybe someone will read it because of your mention of it. A great story of Christ in someone's life...what that actually means.
Thanks for your good wishes and the carol, Paul. It is beautiful and moving. I too am looking forward to a novel about the Desert Fathers and Mothers, particularly a novel.
Right now, what I want to learn most is in novels. They tell me about the heart of men and women, and help me best to understand what I feel I need to understand about us, and our predicament right now. And they foster my imagination, which definitely needs fostering.
Wishing you and other readers here a joyful Christmas, and new year.
Maybe you would enjoy or have enjoyed Susan howatch s series of novels about the struggles of Church of England clerics in the last century to be good people of faith despite their failings . I’m rereading at the moment . The first is Glittering images
My favorite living novelist is Mark Helprin. He's somewhat modern in his approach to narrative but quite traditional in his treatment of human vices and virtues. Plus he writes like a dream.
I live in the United States. At least two houses in my neighborhood have giant (more than 10 feet, one must be almost 20) "Nightmare Before Christmas" decorations in their yards along with the usual lights, santas, reindeer, etc. I love Halloween, but for Christmas I find this disturbing and try to look the other way when passing. Does anyone else see these in their neighborhoods? What do you make of them?
Daily I pass by a house with this same decoration, and it reminds me that people are influenced by our popular culture with its allusions to darkness far more than the beautiful, true, and good. God have mercy on us all as I'm sure I do the same in other realms. (See college football this weekend.)
We haven't that specific one in our neighborhood, but during a recent walk around several neighborhood blocks, I did make it a point to count how many homes had some sort of "Christmas" decoration (about half, 30 of 60), and of those, how many included something Christian specific (e.g. a manger scene). Three of them did... 10 percent. Wasn't sure what to make of that, wasn't surprising, but the engineer in me wanted to do the numbers.
I've seen some of the characters in yards, but not many - "traditional" decor (mostly absent the nativity scene, though) predominates. The story of the movie itself is very sweet and sentimental, in spite of the setting. To me it speaks of yearning for joy and love, and the hope of transcendence. We have to look beneath the surface of the stories that are told in our culture to see what the people who tell them are really saying.
I did, too, Rob, and looked up a summary of the plot. Maybe the people displaying them mean something hopeful by these decorations, but I still find them unpleasant!
There's another display on my street with Star Wars Christmas decorations - R2D2 wearing a santa hat, sitting in the back of space ship. It's very cute. Still strange to me to associate those movies with Christmas, but really, what do reindeer/Rudolph have to do with it other than a story that got attached to the secular part of the holiday?
Well nowadays it seems that you can throw a Santa hat on pretty much anything and suddenly it's Christmas-related. That's all part of the commercialization. Why so many people seem to fall for it is another question.
Owen Cyclops has an interesting Twitter thread analyzing people who really like the nightmare before Christmas. The gist is that people recognize that there is a magic to Christmas, but without Christ it remains closed off.
My hat's off to Tim Burton for being able to create images that disturb so much, have such a feeling of being off-kilter, and I'll never watch the movie because of that, but now when I see the decorations I'll have much more philosophical things to think about!
May I add a German Advent song, a folk song? Here it's sung by the Thomaner Choir Leipzig whose tradition goes back to JS Bach who was their Cantor in the 18th Century. Scroll down for the German text and English translation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_durch_ein_Dornwald_ging
Shame you couldn't visit the CAC community with Richard Rohre/ Jim Finlely when you were In the states- maybe next time. Peace to you and all your family this Christmas- may you continue with your journey in finding sacred spaces both externally and internally. Very precious carol- thankyou.
Correct me if I’m wrong but everything I’ve heard and read from Rohr seems to be trying to make Christianity conform to the spirit of the age? At the very least I know his organization is all in on liberalism, trans, etc etc
I connect personally with his writings due to the fact that he embraces the sanctity all people- knowing that God dwells within all of us- however we express ourselves. Deep peace to you this Christmas period.
I've known good, faithful people who have felt benefitted from the 'refreshing' ways he's phrased 'old truths'. My sense is there's some good stuff to be mined, for those who can be generous and sympathetic in their read of him.
almost like on the opposite end of the political spectrum/ culture war, how some might benefit from Jordan Peterson, mine some good there. (but would do well not to go hook line and sinker).
If you take my meaning.
But it's not to my taste so I understand your comment here.
Absolutely. Despite being sinners and slaves to our passions Christ is with all of us. Our orientation matters though and what characters like Rohr do is disregard the orientation part and the literal teachings of Christ. What your left with then is a nice sentiment but it’s not Christianity.
I am more and more convinced that it might be time to move to the country side and really start to build alternative networks of food production and consumption. Remain close to the cities for job opportunities sure but we need to build up resiliency for ourselves and our local systems. Buy your meat and eggs from a local farmer, plant some fruit trees, grow gardens, and such as this. Establish local connections with your food.
I currently run a 2 or 3 acre fruit orchard, getting a fence built for yard chickens in January, and have several raised beds, which on a lot of the veggies I save the seeds off of. I buy my meat from a local farmer who raises grass fed and finished lamb.
Although along with this you need to develop a prayer routine. I am Anglican in the ACNA. I tend to do Mid Day prayers and Compline some. It would also help if you were near a growing a thriving parish or monastery
It's about doing what you can and not beating yourself up in relation to others' efforts. All moves in these directions are positive and certainly better than not trying at all.
I have been growing a veggie garden going on 22 years now. First started when I was in high school. Started the fruit orchard at the latest when I was 25. I have now started keeping honey bees. Even a little bit goes a long way towards food security and peace of mind. I also have a sneaky suspicion that we continually eat the same foods over and over through out the year and this does have an impact on health. Through fruit orchards and gardening I am able to expand what we eat and the varieties that we eat. I think I have ruined my kids in many ways. Tomatoes can be the colors of the rainbow, raspberries can be blue, figs are a treat and a joy in the summer, green beans are rarely just green, and I could go on.
I kept honeybees for a few years when we lived on some land outside our city. I miss those dear creatures sorely. We eventually had to move back into town due to the constraints of commuting and kids' school, but I am mindful of the need to support a network of local producers and wish that we did this better.
Thank you for everything you have given us this year, Paul. Wishing you and yours a peaceful and very happy Christmas. The song transports me. And I am enjoying checking out all the alternatives people are offering, although I don't see a connection between Greensleeves and the Orthodox chants. Both are beautiful and transcendental but they strike me as quite different. Anyway I look forward to more from this wonderful site in 2025.
My favorite Christmas song is Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. HaHa just kidding. I do love Silent Night and Oh Holy Night, all the Christian classics. Merry Christmas and I have enjoyed the substack this year, Thank you.
When one does research, how do we know that we are dialoguing with God and not both sinfully dialoguing with Satan instead and choosing to eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?
It seems to me that it has nearly become a given in society that there is an inherent goodness in seeking and obtaining knowledge, but I am growing increasingly certain that we have been eating at the Tree for so long that we have not only forgotten that it is sinful, but that we somehow have come to believe that Man must do so for his very survival.
Elder Paisios has written that we need to learn to observe, but not engage, with our thoughts to turn towards God. How can one do this and still write/ engage in research?
Thank you so much for your writings this year, Paul! I’ve really enjoyed the Abbey of Misrule. Also, your post “The Moses Option” inspired me to write my own bit about “A Christmas Carol” and Luigi Mangione, and I’ve referenced you there. Thank you again!!
I appreciate where Reno is coming from, but by appealing to popular politics I think he misses your own points by a wide margin, making his rebuttal wordy but weak. He first conflates (again) the notion that "what's good for Americans is good for Christians", secondly asserts Libertarianism (e.g. "free markets") as a mark of Christianity, and thirdly (and most egregiously) tries to cite recent events (Trump's election) as proof-positive of "God's Hand agreeing with me". This last is backed with the usual litany of signs of a cultural shift which he is quick to declare as "decisive". I've gotten to the age where I have seen numerous "decisive" cultural moments that were nothing of the sort - mere ephemeral fads lasting at best a few years at best before another fad comes along to distract us, while the rot of modernism moves on.
Reno's extensive reliance on politics (surely a most inconstant sign as any historian can tell you in painful detail) elides many many other deeper societal changes and pushes such as the increasing pace of technological destruction of traditional society - something his insistence on "free markets" cannot actually gainsay for it lacks the language to see how the techno-utopians are imposing this all on us without actually giving us any choice in the matter (rapid device obsolescence, moves away from even owning your own computer or the software running it, mandated use of smartphones and biometric ID for routine banking, "security updates" that install new surveillance software you cannot disable...). Free markets indeed! But, Oh, I can buy whatever brand of oatmeal (that the grocery store deigns to stock) I wish!
Trump's far from "decisive" victory (the margin was slim, and could quickly be lost through his usual big mouth) is belied by Trump's own reliance on Musk and other techno-utopians - non-Christians all, who have no desire to build a Christian civilization anyway.
Anyway, enough of my own rant - Reno frustrates me, and always has.
Paul, I wish you and yours a joyous Nativity. In my little Orthodox parish, which is bursting at the seams as it is, we will be baptizing / chrismating 3 more large families tomorrow. That is a sign I can celebrate and put faith in.
And a very happy and peaceful Christmas to you and yours Paul.
Merry Christmas!
On the healthcare murder and the real life Christmas movie we all are living in:
https://gaty.substack.com/p/go-scrooge-yourself
A very happy Christmas and New Year to you Paul. May 2025 finally bring us the novel about the Desert Fathers and Mothers we’ve been waiting for.
The pressure's on!
Speaking of “What Child Is This,” I only recently learned that music of the Orthodox hymn “Agni Parthene” was inspired by the tune of “Greensleeves.” (Lyrics of “Agni Parthene” of course by St. Nectarios of Aegina.) So there’s your unexpected connection between traditional English music and Orthodoxy.
How interesting. This is the same tune of course.
Yes—I know that “What Child Is This” and “Greensleeves” are the same tune. :) But I never connected “Agni Parthene” with it though! There are some divergences, but the open line of “Agni Parthene” is almost the same. I’m sure someone more experienced in choral music can point out the other similarities.
Is that available to listen to anywhere? I do like this connection.
This is a rendition by Eikona, an Orthodox women's trio here in the States. You can definitely hear the similarity to Greensleeves:
https://youtu.be/6t0QCNlDIeY?si=dXUP6kuFngtFuYDc
I adore this Russian version: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_IUdrl1Sfrw&pp=ygUg0LzQsNGA0LjQtSDQtNC10LLQviDRh9C40YHRgtCw0Y8%3D
Divna Ljubojevic also sings a beautiful version in the Greek: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RcjwuIx5-nI&pp=ygUeYWduaSBwYXJ0aGVuZSBkaXZuYSBsanVib2pldmlj
Here’s an all-male choir chanting the hymn as well, this version especially feels so very delightfully eastern: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i-3h9TQ312c&pp=ygUdcGV0cm9zIGdhaXRhbm9zIGFnbmkgcGFydGhlbmU%3D
I am a Western person that has been entranced by the East ever since I was a child, and I had some opportunities to live in Eastern Europe as a student. I love to see where the East and West meet. This song, and its history, feels like a delightful bridge between the two.
Ah, I know this song. It's been sung in my church more than once. But these versions are excellent. Thanks everyone.
St. Nektarios did not put it to music. I believe monks at one of the monasteries on the Holy Mountain did. Someone correct me if I’m wrong. It’s something I heard.
If you read my comment, you will see that I did not say that St. N. put the hymn to music, only wrote the lyrics. Thanks. :)
It’s not a criticism, just a statement
Your first sentence was critical.
I was told on Mt Athos that the melody for Agni Parthene came in a dream to the melodist... (Of course that does not make it true!) , but it's an interesting subtext to a piece of music which does to my ears at least, undoubtedly does possess a rather unearthly quality to it.
I'm no musical expert, far from it, but it's relationship to "Greensleeves" (itself supposed to be a composition of Henry VIII? 🤔) to me, seems tenuous.
Multiple sources say no, that the melody was written in the 1970s after a monk heard “Greensleeves.” The lyrics, written by St. Nektarios, did come from a dream though.
read these further additions to this thread.
would you kindly point me to these sources? I have been deeply touched by this hymn, the poetry written by St. Nektarios.
And yes I had heard something about the music not being his... but I dont know more than that.
thanks again for sharing.
-m
Where did you learn this?!
I love both those melodies, and deeply love St. Nektarios and this hymn of his to our heavenly queen.
thanks for sharing this.
-m
I'm convinced there are far more connections between traditional English things and Orthodox than the wider world cares to admit. On music specifically, the mysterious, modal tunes of Wexford and Hereford carols evoke similar movements as byzantine chant without, of course, the quarter tones, etc. Glory to God for this beauty :)
Some American shape note singing sounds somewhat Byzantine-Slavic, and that has its roots in England via the New England Puritans. A good example is the tune "Idumea," used so effectively as the background music for the opening battle scene in the film Cold Mountain. I'm not sure if there's any real connection, however, other than the use of similar scales/modes. Some Celtic music sounds very "Asian" for that reason.
Nevertheless, I've long felt that if Orthodox and Catholic folks sang our traditional hymns with half the gusto of the Sacred Harp singers, we wouldn't have to worry about empty pews!
Well, it may have been "inspired by", but to my ear that's the extent of it. The meter is the same and the harmonic structures resemble one another at the ends of some of the phrases, but in the rest of the phrases they don't, and the melody is really not that close. The opening to Greensleeves on the scale is 1 3 45 65 4 2 flat7, and Agni Parthene is 1 1 2 3 3 432 1 - the melodies similarly diverge through the rest of the songs. Church music in both the east and west was patterned after particular groups of notes called "modes", and 16th century English music still remembers that history. I don't mean to diminish anyone's enjoyment of the music, or inspiration from it - I myself love them both. It may be that we in the contemporary west are not used to hearing songs in minor keys with modal structure, so we think that two songs so structured "sound the same".
(I can hear it now: There's someone going all technical and sucking the wonder out of things! Dear friends, knowing how and why something "works" can also increase the wonder in the beauty - in farming, physics & chemistry, weaving, painting - and music.)
Dana
With respect to ‘Beauty Matters, which defends not only beauty but other old-fashioned things like art, literature and truth’,
I have just read - reread after some many years - Sheldon Vanauken’s book A Severe Mercy. In it, I relearned how some find beauty and joy in the world, and perhaps more so in God’s Grace, and about what mercy - sometimes severe - means to a life lived for Christ. I mention this here - not perhaps a ‘Christmas story’ - but certainly an important Christian story that might bless some of you…
This book had a profound impact on me when I first read it many, many years ago. Thanks for mentioning it — it’s time for me to dust off my old copy and read it again!
I had forgotten all about A Severe Mercy, but it impacted me greatly when I read it many years ago. Maybe someone will read it because of your mention of it. A great story of Christ in someone's life...what that actually means.
Thanks for your good wishes and the carol, Paul. It is beautiful and moving. I too am looking forward to a novel about the Desert Fathers and Mothers, particularly a novel.
Right now, what I want to learn most is in novels. They tell me about the heart of men and women, and help me best to understand what I feel I need to understand about us, and our predicament right now. And they foster my imagination, which definitely needs fostering.
Wishing you and other readers here a joyful Christmas, and new year.
Maybe you would enjoy or have enjoyed Susan howatch s series of novels about the struggles of Church of England clerics in the last century to be good people of faith despite their failings . I’m rereading at the moment . The first is Glittering images
My favorite living novelist is Mark Helprin. He's somewhat modern in his approach to narrative but quite traditional in his treatment of human vices and virtues. Plus he writes like a dream.
Thank you, both of you, for your recommendations. I will take a look.
I live in the United States. At least two houses in my neighborhood have giant (more than 10 feet, one must be almost 20) "Nightmare Before Christmas" decorations in their yards along with the usual lights, santas, reindeer, etc. I love Halloween, but for Christmas I find this disturbing and try to look the other way when passing. Does anyone else see these in their neighborhoods? What do you make of them?
Daily I pass by a house with this same decoration, and it reminds me that people are influenced by our popular culture with its allusions to darkness far more than the beautiful, true, and good. God have mercy on us all as I'm sure I do the same in other realms. (See college football this weekend.)
We haven't that specific one in our neighborhood, but during a recent walk around several neighborhood blocks, I did make it a point to count how many homes had some sort of "Christmas" decoration (about half, 30 of 60), and of those, how many included something Christian specific (e.g. a manger scene). Three of them did... 10 percent. Wasn't sure what to make of that, wasn't surprising, but the engineer in me wanted to do the numbers.
I've seen some of the characters in yards, but not many - "traditional" decor (mostly absent the nativity scene, though) predominates. The story of the movie itself is very sweet and sentimental, in spite of the setting. To me it speaks of yearning for joy and love, and the hope of transcendence. We have to look beneath the surface of the stories that are told in our culture to see what the people who tell them are really saying.
Dana
I've never seen the movie, Dana, but wondered about that, given how many people seem to really like it.
I did, too, Rob, and looked up a summary of the plot. Maybe the people displaying them mean something hopeful by these decorations, but I still find them unpleasant!
There's another display on my street with Star Wars Christmas decorations - R2D2 wearing a santa hat, sitting in the back of space ship. It's very cute. Still strange to me to associate those movies with Christmas, but really, what do reindeer/Rudolph have to do with it other than a story that got attached to the secular part of the holiday?
Well nowadays it seems that you can throw a Santa hat on pretty much anything and suddenly it's Christmas-related. That's all part of the commercialization. Why so many people seem to fall for it is another question.
Owen Cyclops has an interesting Twitter thread analyzing people who really like the nightmare before Christmas. The gist is that people recognize that there is a magic to Christmas, but without Christ it remains closed off.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1851268303559303465.html
Thank you - that was so interesting. So was a longer piece by another author linked in the one you suggested: https://substack.com/home/post/p-150510281
My hat's off to Tim Burton for being able to create images that disturb so much, have such a feeling of being off-kilter, and I'll never watch the movie because of that, but now when I see the decorations I'll have much more philosophical things to think about!
May I add a German Advent song, a folk song? Here it's sung by the Thomaner Choir Leipzig whose tradition goes back to JS Bach who was their Cantor in the 18th Century. Scroll down for the German text and English translation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_durch_ein_Dornwald_ging
And here's the actual song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNHPGp9CyL0
A Merry and peaceful Christmas to you all.
Shame you couldn't visit the CAC community with Richard Rohre/ Jim Finlely when you were In the states- maybe next time. Peace to you and all your family this Christmas- may you continue with your journey in finding sacred spaces both externally and internally. Very precious carol- thankyou.
Correct me if I’m wrong but everything I’ve heard and read from Rohr seems to be trying to make Christianity conform to the spirit of the age? At the very least I know his organization is all in on liberalism, trans, etc etc
I connect personally with his writings due to the fact that he embraces the sanctity all people- knowing that God dwells within all of us- however we express ourselves. Deep peace to you this Christmas period.
I say all this as a wretched sinner myself. Not an authority or judge.
Merry Christmas!
Christ is born!
I've known good, faithful people who have felt benefitted from the 'refreshing' ways he's phrased 'old truths'. My sense is there's some good stuff to be mined, for those who can be generous and sympathetic in their read of him.
almost like on the opposite end of the political spectrum/ culture war, how some might benefit from Jordan Peterson, mine some good there. (but would do well not to go hook line and sinker).
If you take my meaning.
But it's not to my taste so I understand your comment here.
That's a generous way of thinking about it. As someone who took the Jordan Peterson pipeline back to Christianity, I can't argue with it!
May God bless you Brennan.
-m
Doxaste!
Absolutely. Despite being sinners and slaves to our passions Christ is with all of us. Our orientation matters though and what characters like Rohr do is disregard the orientation part and the literal teachings of Christ. What your left with then is a nice sentiment but it’s not Christianity.
I am more and more convinced that it might be time to move to the country side and really start to build alternative networks of food production and consumption. Remain close to the cities for job opportunities sure but we need to build up resiliency for ourselves and our local systems. Buy your meat and eggs from a local farmer, plant some fruit trees, grow gardens, and such as this. Establish local connections with your food.
I've been trying it for a decade or so and it is well worth doing if you can find the right place. Though everyone can begin somewhere.
I currently run a 2 or 3 acre fruit orchard, getting a fence built for yard chickens in January, and have several raised beds, which on a lot of the veggies I save the seeds off of. I buy my meat from a local farmer who raises grass fed and finished lamb.
Although along with this you need to develop a prayer routine. I am Anglican in the ACNA. I tend to do Mid Day prayers and Compline some. It would also help if you were near a growing a thriving parish or monastery
It's about doing what you can and not beating yourself up in relation to others' efforts. All moves in these directions are positive and certainly better than not trying at all.
Have a peaceful Christmas 🙏
I have been growing a veggie garden going on 22 years now. First started when I was in high school. Started the fruit orchard at the latest when I was 25. I have now started keeping honey bees. Even a little bit goes a long way towards food security and peace of mind. I also have a sneaky suspicion that we continually eat the same foods over and over through out the year and this does have an impact on health. Through fruit orchards and gardening I am able to expand what we eat and the varieties that we eat. I think I have ruined my kids in many ways. Tomatoes can be the colors of the rainbow, raspberries can be blue, figs are a treat and a joy in the summer, green beans are rarely just green, and I could go on.
I kept honeybees for a few years when we lived on some land outside our city. I miss those dear creatures sorely. We eventually had to move back into town due to the constraints of commuting and kids' school, but I am mindful of the need to support a network of local producers and wish that we did this better.
Thank you for everything you have given us this year, Paul. Wishing you and yours a peaceful and very happy Christmas. The song transports me. And I am enjoying checking out all the alternatives people are offering, although I don't see a connection between Greensleeves and the Orthodox chants. Both are beautiful and transcendental but they strike me as quite different. Anyway I look forward to more from this wonderful site in 2025.
My favorite Christmas song is Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. HaHa just kidding. I do love Silent Night and Oh Holy Night, all the Christian classics. Merry Christmas and I have enjoyed the substack this year, Thank you.
When I am cynical I sing
“Hark the herald angel sings
But there’s none upon our tree
Every time I take a peek
All I see is Dis-n-ey”
For some reason I have had less reason to do so in the last few years. God is good.
When one does research, how do we know that we are dialoguing with God and not both sinfully dialoguing with Satan instead and choosing to eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?
It seems to me that it has nearly become a given in society that there is an inherent goodness in seeking and obtaining knowledge, but I am growing increasingly certain that we have been eating at the Tree for so long that we have not only forgotten that it is sinful, but that we somehow have come to believe that Man must do so for his very survival.
Elder Paisios has written that we need to learn to observe, but not engage, with our thoughts to turn towards God. How can one do this and still write/ engage in research?
I thank God that Charles Martel did not share your defeatism.
There's a typo in your comment. 'Defeatism' is actually spelt 'Christianity.'
Thank you so much for your writings this year, Paul! I’ve really enjoyed the Abbey of Misrule. Also, your post “The Moses Option” inspired me to write my own bit about “A Christmas Carol” and Luigi Mangione, and I’ve referenced you there. Thank you again!!
https://open.substack.com/pub/susannaschwartz/p/a-christmas-carol-and-luigi-mangione?r=4mghex&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
I appreciate where Reno is coming from, but by appealing to popular politics I think he misses your own points by a wide margin, making his rebuttal wordy but weak. He first conflates (again) the notion that "what's good for Americans is good for Christians", secondly asserts Libertarianism (e.g. "free markets") as a mark of Christianity, and thirdly (and most egregiously) tries to cite recent events (Trump's election) as proof-positive of "God's Hand agreeing with me". This last is backed with the usual litany of signs of a cultural shift which he is quick to declare as "decisive". I've gotten to the age where I have seen numerous "decisive" cultural moments that were nothing of the sort - mere ephemeral fads lasting at best a few years at best before another fad comes along to distract us, while the rot of modernism moves on.
Reno's extensive reliance on politics (surely a most inconstant sign as any historian can tell you in painful detail) elides many many other deeper societal changes and pushes such as the increasing pace of technological destruction of traditional society - something his insistence on "free markets" cannot actually gainsay for it lacks the language to see how the techno-utopians are imposing this all on us without actually giving us any choice in the matter (rapid device obsolescence, moves away from even owning your own computer or the software running it, mandated use of smartphones and biometric ID for routine banking, "security updates" that install new surveillance software you cannot disable...). Free markets indeed! But, Oh, I can buy whatever brand of oatmeal (that the grocery store deigns to stock) I wish!
Trump's far from "decisive" victory (the margin was slim, and could quickly be lost through his usual big mouth) is belied by Trump's own reliance on Musk and other techno-utopians - non-Christians all, who have no desire to build a Christian civilization anyway.
Anyway, enough of my own rant - Reno frustrates me, and always has.
Paul, I wish you and yours a joyous Nativity. In my little Orthodox parish, which is bursting at the seams as it is, we will be baptizing / chrismating 3 more large families tomorrow. That is a sign I can celebrate and put faith in.