I don't know that Zionism - which is really just a form of nationalism - manifests the Machine more or less than any other form. Aggressive nationalisms (and aggressive religious ideologies such as Islamism) are all over the place now, though they are nothing new. They simply bring out the ancient human desire to possess territory for a tribe. The Middle East has two tribes warring over the same piece of territory and both claiming ancient rights. The state of Israel has the support of the techno-empire of the United States, which is probably the nerve centre of the Machine right now.
I'm always reluctant to weight in on 'Zionism', because however much I oppose much of what Israel does, I am also seeing a massive rise in anti-semitism everywhere, and excuses made for Hamas violence, and I have no answers to any of it, and very little knowledge. So as a rule, I say nothing.
Paul - want to thank you deeply for calling out (or even choosing to bring up) antisemitism, and your use of the word "excuses," in your response here. You didn't have to do it and it's more than most writers/artists would do at the moment. I've seen exactly the lack of it in action so many times. It is very frightening for anyone paying attention, and I'm so happy to note that you really are paying attention in all the ways your writing always suggests. It means so much.
Thankful to see the Salon return! I always enjoy reading the conversations, even when I don't chime in. Paul, you bring up a subject I've had a hard time with for all of my Christian life: The Sabbath. Like so many others, I ignore this commandment. But I would love to learn from others how they have been able to honor this commandment, even to a small degree.
For me observing the Sabbath is a very recent thing, mainly as becoming a Christian is also a relatively recent occurrence (I'm a couple of years or so on the journey).
As my life had slowly morphed to being increasingly "Christ-centred", and after many false starts I've finally found a church I can call my own, I've just gravitated to it naturally.
The things I used to prioritise on a Sunday, mainly sport related, have taken a back seat as I began to realise that stillness, prayer, church service and family time are all much, much more important.
As my faith has grown my priorities have simply shifted. For me, I really don't think it's any more complex than that.
At our church, the liturgy lasts 3 hours or so. Then the congregation all eats together (we take it in turns to cook). Then we read the Bible, and then sit around chatting while the priest hears confessions. Sometimes we have a prayer service afterwards. It takes most of the day.
Interesting that you do confession after the Liturgy. In Orthodoxy it is usually done before or after vespers the previous evening, to facilitate penitents taking communion.
In the Coptic Orthodox there is no hard rule, but it tends to be after liturgy, although it can be anytime. I wondered about what you said about penitents, but the priest said that the eucharist is spiritual medicine, so it is good preparation for confession.
In the stricter forms of the Russian tradition communion is only allowed those who have confessed, so you can see these traditions are 180 degrees opposite.
I think in our communion, it's that, if you commit a mortal sin, especially of the more dramatic and public type, like, say, adultery, you're expected to phone the priest and go to confession without a minute to waste. More routine sins are confessed regularly, usually after liturgy.
I have to say that I'm not certain about any of this, though.
We have a group that gets together once a month on the first Sunday afternoon in my home. We call it the Sabbath group. It began when I listened to a podcast on the Ezra Klein show (where he interviewed Judith Shulevitz, mentioned in a comment below). He’s coming from a Jewish perspective, and exploring the practice of keeping Sabbath. But it struck a chord in me. I sent it out to many friends and invited them all for potluck and discussion of what it means to keep Sabbath as Christians. It has been a wonderful monthly get together ever since. Another podcast we discovered along the way is Dr Nicole Roccas’ Time Eternal.
For myself, I did my best to clear my Sunday schedule of routine obligations and chores. I still usually cook for my family and do the dishes and things like that, but I try to let the rest go. I also scheduled a family game night, although it often doesn’t actually happen, to my sorrow. I make it a practice to not do any commerce on Sundays as well- I don’t go to any stores or libraries or anything that would require people to have to work there that day. I do make a large exception if my college kids are home- we sometimes go out for a meal at a restaurant.
I often come home from church where I am the choir director and involved in many activities, put my pajamas on and lie in bed to read or sleep. Since it’s the only time of the week I really do something like that, it’s a little personal Sabbath rest.
these are just my small ideas. It was such a foreign concept to me that I had to start somewhere.I’d love to hear what other people do to keep Sabbath!
Thank you for telling us about what you are doing.
I believe that eating together is the beginning of society, and that the way that we eat together, the setting for eating together, is a very big indication of what kind of society we live in.
Even though I am not Christian, and will not become Christian at this time, I believe in the sacredness ? of eating together, and free speech around a table where people can talk and be listened to. I know that this is something that the Gospels strongly emphasized, to the extent that we often see and hear Jesus saying important things during a meal time.
But maybe this is one of the basic, minimum ? requirements for Western civilisation. It seems to me that the Oriental eating experience is not organized around the table, but maybe I am wrong.
I do commerce on Sundays, sometimes, when I go to my local market, but only occasionally. Maybe going to a local market on Sundays, even if there is buying and selling, is not the same thing as going to a supermarket, for example ? The market is in open air, and it rarely lasts all day. The market people are engaged in an activity that goes way back to Antiquity.
By choice, and by a form of refusal to engage in associative activities at this time, I have a lot of free time to..rest, and it is a great challenge to give structure to it, without falling into a technological black hole, but maybe this is a form of calling for me ? Who knows ?
Maybe there could be a form of sacredness in daily life, in taking care of the HOME, making it by taking care of it, and the people in it, and that the Sabbath is about trying to find a way of not getting sucked into compulsive activity, whether it be housework, technology, whatever ? Being able to have the discipline of getting up to break off and do something different, with our without money, moreover.
Perhaps I will pass as an intellectual (how evil, to be an intellectual...) in writing this, but here goes : I think that the Sabbath is/was intended to constitute a break in the routine of daily life, and of buying and selling, for example. And as such, it structured time, giving rhythm to our way of being in the world. It broke up a continuum that threatened to make our time one big frozen lump, with no Difference in it or in us. I think ? that when we have no structure to divide our time up, it freezes us up. Maybe most people here will be puzzled reading this, but I am a housewife living at home in a setting where I have much time available for thinking, meditating ?, reading, being alone (or not). I have the freedom which society gives me, of being able to dress whatever way I want, in all circumstances, without anybody opening their mouths to criticize me. And I have been to religious funerals recently where people wear jeans.
So, maybe out of a desire to be different ? I don't know, I have tried to dress up to go to Church, to make myself pretty, wearing jewelry, a little makeup, to show the Lord ? show other people ? that it is possible ? important to make oneself presentable, and could even be a sign of being joyful doing this. No miniskirts, no plunging necklines, no wiggling and jiggling during the short mass, but being pretty while making a JOYFUL noise unto the Lord.
Does our understanding of what it means to worship the Lord change with the society that we live in ? Could... ornament really be a gift of God, and not of the devil ? I hope so.
It is Sunday morning, and I am here in this salon, and not in church. For various reasons, I have given up on going to church on Sunday morning. Maybe one day I will come back to it, maybe not.
I will try to discipline myself to not spend hours here this morning, and not fall into the TEMPTATION of this black hole. This is my personal ? private ? Lent.
For anyone interested in engaging in hopeful ways to live in the Machine Age, there is a Doomer Optimism Gathering in Ligonier, PA from Nov 7-8. Speakers will include myself and my wife Ruth Gaskovski, Freya India, Suzy Weiss, Ashely Fitzgerald, Grant Martsolf, Michael Toscano and many more.
"We'll explore the far-reaching effects of technology, the promises and dangers of transhumanism, and the search for meaning in a world increasingly defined by machines. Our discussions will challenge how the Machine influences everything from the structure of families and our relationship with the environment to issues of personal freedom and social inequality, all while celebrating moments of creative rebellion.
Beyond the presentations, panels, open mics, we'll spend time connecting over shared meals and hold lively debates over drinks and more.
What a great name for a charming concept. Wish I were closer, but alas... The convivial aspect calls to mind the 'Supra', the Georgian Toasting Feast gaining traction in various places. We recently had one here in Alabama and it was delightful.
Wish I could attend but youngest child of my four and the last to do so is getting married in the farm field across the street from our home. Praying for good weather and a lovely if chilly autumn Hobbity vibe! Have a great gathering. Hope you’ll document some of it to share for those who can’t be there.
Glad to see the Salon open again. I'm feeling a bit low today but this is heartening. Always enjoyed the conversations here, even the ones that got a bit off the rails.
Paul, will the Book of Wild Saints be in hard copy also? I can read essays and reporting on screen, but trying to read stories off a screen is very unappealing; it's like skim milk or soyburgers - I'd rather go hungry and wait for the real thing.
I am glad you're resting. I hope you publish hard copies of all your writings, but I also hope your reputation achieves such dizzying heights that you never have to do Promotion again.
Absolutely, it will be a real book with beautiful illustrations. I'm excited about it.
I agree with you. I can't read fiction or poetry on a screen. The medium is the message.
My ideal time to be a writer would probably have been the 19th century, if I were a Victorian gentleman. I could just publish my story or monograph, then retire to my club. No podcasts required!
Have you read Tolkien's letters? As an author, you would like them very much. It is such a different world before word-processing, home printers, and even typewriters.
I read them too. I was astonished at how poor he was, sometimes in distress as he had two boys in school which was an all important spend for him. As well poor old Tolkien wrote his books, then struggled to get them typed himself or someone paid to do it. He was never highly paid to teach and he only realized good bucks from Lord of… until late in life. Wonderful Catholic man that he was, we must appreciate his struggles as well as his literary successes.
Over vacation, (but not for me, because my husband and I were taking care of three little'uns, between 6 and 2), we watched Jane Campion's "Bright Star" about Keats and Fanny Brawne. Maybe I will try to read "Why did I laugh tonight ?" today, if I can get out of the molasses...
Good for the beautiful book. The Lord loves beauty, and hates ugliness. After all, if we were made in His image, it should be beautiful, and We should be beautiful, too, and try to make beauty in the world. Hopefully.
I am very very happy that the monthly salons are up and running again, mainly because I love good conversation, and it is a rarity, and it is here sometimes. I am also very intrigued that interest in the monthly salon waned so much, because my interest in it has never waned.
Yes, for the Sabbath. I have noticed that what you call the Machine, Paul, is largely the huge prejudice/idea that we have that we are machines, and not corruptible flesh and blood living beings. People have a hard time understanding that when they... rest, or sleep, they have not had their switches, or cords pulled, and HAVE NOT STOPPED. They continue to live, to breathe, to think, dream, while they are momentarily absent to their conscious perception of themselves. This seems to be very difficult for most people to get their minds around.
Readings that have kicked me in the stomach recently, because I watch almost no videos, no T.V. no smartphone, etc : James Agee for words, and Walker Evans for photos in the 1936 book "Let us now praise famous men" about Agee's and Evan's time spent in a few white sharecropper families at the time in Alabama. Agee has kicked me in the stomach, and I am trying to recover from it, while significantly questioning many of my assumptions about what could be ? right, or truth in the world.
I'll be back later, but not for too long, because I know that spending too much time on the machine is not good for me or US.
I hope that you will manage to get rest, and rested, Paul.
There's a book by a Jewish author on the Sabbath on how she deliberately reclaimed the day, having been brought up as a rather more secular Jew. I'll have to look up the title again (it's at home, and I'm at work). Worth reading.
Boy can I relate. I was hospitalized and nearly done in by double pneumonia at age 35, which caught me as I was trying to fend off the flu. Had a very demanding job as a school administrator entailing hard work all day, and two to three meetings weekly in the evening. Beyond that, had two kids - a toddler and an infant - to care for all weekend, every weekend, whilst my partner worked. So I learned. You just can't burn the candle at both ends in life. At least, not for long - without health consequence. And INDEED this is a Machine behavior. We can so readily and easily get caught up up being DRIVEN, while telling ourselves the story that we are in fact the driver. Just the kind of pathology that the machine thrives on. So Paul, glad you are lightening the load! And YES to the Sabbath!! Take care!
I had a serious pneumonia when I was just 14. It remains the worst illness I ever had, yes, beating out Covid and even giardiasis (if you don't know anything about the latter don't ask). I was so sick by the time they found an antibiotic that would work I didn't care if I lived or died
On a happier note, while pilgrimage opportunities in the US are scarce, there is one this weekend, *also* in Ligonier, Pennsylvania (albeit a week offset from Peco's gathering, which I am sad to miss), at Antiochian Village, for St. Raphael of Brooklyn. I'm taking some guys from my parish.
Since I know you're making use of your new camera rig, if you are at home resting, this is (at least here in the States) a great time of year to make use of it. Sadly, Substack doesn't allow pictures in the comments, else I'd drop a few here. I find photography a fine way to detach from things and rest.
It is good to hear you are slowly recovering from illness. I was reminded to think of you and Abbey of Misrule during Sunday's sermon. The vicar's theme was hesychasm and the benefits of constant prayer. He even referred to The Way of a Pilgrim, a book you suggested AoM subscribers should read. I was surprised but pleased to hear all this as part of a bog standard CofE service. Depends how you define Sabbath, I suppose. Is it a regular day a week? An extended period taken off for reflection and recuperation? I find myself having been slowly drawn in to regular practice. I started by attending church on particular occasions, Christmas. Easter, All Hallows etc. Then it became every other Sunday. Now it doesn't feel right, if I don't go. It's a day I generally spend by myself. After church I treat myself to a roast lunch and then a long walk where I can reflect. It has come to feel quite strange seeing people go about their parallel lives on Sundays. The young joggers who always pound past me on Sundays, worshipping at the Church of Fitness, with no real thought for the fitness of the soul. But I guess one day they will feel the need.
Just want to recommend a book by Jill Bolte Taylor..'The Whole Brain Living'. Those familiar with Ian Mcgilchrist's work will find it very compatible. She had a stroke on her left hemisphere and lost all that came with it...recovered after many yrs. She has some extraordinary things to share about her experiences . She was studying neuroanatomy at Harvard when she had the stroke (in her 40's).
Her view of how the different generations use and see technology is also very interesting. Being a Boomer , I put a very high value on privacy but this is all most the opposite of my Millennial children and friends who share everything openly...Is this just the constant swing of generations that want to rebel against the old order?
The difference in how generations use and respond to technology really is fascinating. I am an early Milennial (perhaps), born in 1982. My older friends do not feel the same pull towards smartphones and screens as I do. The compulsion, I believe, really has been hard-wired by repeated use at a young age. I think many of the older generation are unaware of the dangers of the technology because they are partly immune to it -- they don't have the same grooves in their minds.
I've added the book to my considerations for reading. Thank you.
Joesph Chilton Pierce wrote about this some yrs ago..how the brain is effected by screens. His recommendation was to keep them away from children and their early development. But progressive liberalism and economics are what we are driven towards.. but maybe a silver lining ? Many younger people are increasingly disenchanted with much of it... and maybe it's a very old story and been going on a long time..the shiny new thing is just the devil in disguise.
Well, speaking as a "young person," I do think that my generation is becoming more and more wary of the convenience, the alienation, the "cheap and easy" mentality. Not that they don't take advantage of it, to their benefit and detriment! But I think it occasionally makes people kind of nauseated, and they want to be free of this temptation.
There's a song by the Proclaimers that might reflect this feeling, though it's about a woman, not about technology. The first lines run something like "I like the smell of petrol... I like the taste of booze... but I hate my lust for you, I hate my lust for you."
Many of us feel the chains, and begin to hate our lust.
Can't help thinking that having lust for a woman is maybe a little healthier than having lust for the black hole. Having lust for a woman may even be healthier ? than having lust for alcohol.
Age has taught me that the sins of the flesh are less dramatic than the sins of the spirit.
After all, God forgave David for his shenanigans with/for Bethsaba, even though some people I know think that He was wrong. (yes, yes, many people do not understand this.)
But when David went mad and engaged in a census operation of the Jewish people, God was less forgiving. That has made me think.
Forgive my ignorance, George, but what is Theosis? I think that since the Fall, it is NOT normal to love God, or Neighbour. It’s the pull or need to love that remains that is normal.
I like to meditate on what Adam and Eve felt when they found themselves outside The Garden and had only their fallen nature to rely on. I believe this is what foolish archeologists and anthropologists think of as primitive ape man scratching in the dirt to find roots and grubs to eat. Just Adam and his wife with no “super-powers.”
Theosis ("deification," "divinization") is the process of a worshiper becoming free of hamartía ("missing the mark"), being united with God, beginning in this life and later consummated in bodily resurrection. For eastern Christians, Théōsis (see 2 Pet. 1:4) is salvation. Théōsis assumes that humans from the beginning are made to share in the Life or Nature of the all-Holy Trinity. Therefore, an infant or an adult worshiper is saved from the state of unholiness (hamartía — which is not to be confused with hamártēma “sin”) for participation in the Life (zōé, not simply bíos) of the Trinity — which is everlasting.
Theosis is participation in the life of the Holy Trinity, where there is distinction of persons but interpenetration and sharing of being. It’s living in Heaven where I have everything I want and need, God, and He has me.
Re: or eastern Christians, Théōsis (see 2 Pet. 1:4) is salvation.
This is not quite true. Salvation is the beginning of the process and that comes to us through Christ's victory over Death. From there we must strive to grow in our faith, and the process may well (usually does) last beyond physical death-- hence why we pray for the dead.
Theosis is not a one time thing. It begins at baptism and if one does not stray from the path, then it grows and becomes more complete as one live in Christ in this life and the next.
I'm uncomfortable with the term "theosis". I get that it can be legitimate in the sense in which it is used, but it sounds pantheistic; I'd prefer "sanctification", although that can imply an Evangelical understanding. We Oriental Orthodox disapprove of the term, and it is one of the barriers to reunion with the Eastern Orthodox.
It goes back to very early centuries in Orthodoxy. St Athanasius (the opponent of the Arians) said, "God became man that Man might become God". Of course that could be badly misunderstood and even great saints are not infallible, but the idea existed before the Churches of the East split over other doctrinal quarrels.
Rombald, it’s not pantheism where God is everything and everything is God. In the fullest experience of Theosis, there still distinction of persons. There is participation in the life of the Holy Trinity, participation in the shared energies of the Trinity but not in the essence of God. I’m still me no matter how much I am completely in communion with God.
Very best wishes, Paul, from this fellow 53 year old also exhausted by too much work and writing books! I taught T'ai Chi for almost 20 years and started back in 1986. Yet twice in my life, once for 10 years, and up until now for 5 years, I took time off doing this superb practice that had been at the centre of my life. The results were to be expected, the first lapse led to a disc herniating in my spine, the recent lapse certainly contributed to burn-out. And yet, the pauses seem to have been important in their own way, both by truly seeing what it was I was neglecting, but also that one cannot sustain a machine-like 'solid state' of energy for anything, including that which is manifestly good for you! I noticed it very much with reading, which waned tremendously during lockdowns, much to my own surprise and annoyance, but has returned over the last year, thank goodness. Friends have mentioned similar waxing and waning in their lives with prayer and meditation too.
So, from the happier position of now being back in regular daily practice, my question for any readers is this. What beneficial practices and habits, which you genuinely loved, have you let fall by the wayside? And how did you manage to pick them up again?
A cold plunge 2 min pool dunk every morning from October! I was off it for 2 years and now I’ve got a fancy £50 one from Amazon which is a serious upgrade from my wheelie bin, which was rather tricky to get in and out of. How did I do without it!
Are you MAD!!!!!! But thank you for that amusing image of a grown woman taking a frigid dip in a wheelie-bin!!!!! Did you lower yourself down with a hoist of some sort…what a picture…
Haha I had an elaborate stepladder set up now with my bespoke plunge pool I just step in, I swear by it in the colder months! I also swim weekly in the river Cam, cold water therapy folks, it’s awesome! 🥶
Yeah good for some but here in Canada in the winter I’d have to break through a foot of ice before any plunging could take place. A good priest I know recommends turning off the hot water a minute or so before the end of a shower as a cowardly alternative.
Anna, I just had a peek at your painting on your substack. Can I say they are absolutely beautiful! Full of wonder. Colours so deep. And a fresh feel. I just love, love them!
I try to start with cold water. I have a hand-held showerhead, and I first keep my feet cold. Attitude matters, so I work my way up, and somehow, little by little, manage to get "most of me" into the cold water. I remember being little in the "very cold water" of the hose during the summertime. As a child, if there was a pool or a river or a lake, OF COURSE, it was time to go swimming... PLEASE.....? So, I go back to that sort of vibe, for as long as I dare "waste the water" (or the time). Then... it is so nice to take a HOT shower.
Love this exchange. Thanks for it. I have been swimming in cold water for several years now, but not in the winter. I switch to the cold water at the end of a shower, every once in awhile in the winter. (In the summer, I take almost no showers or anything, because the creek is right facing our house, and I can use it (!!!) almost every day. After all, why do I want to be a... hero ? and just how far do I have to go to prove to myself that I am one ?
Sure, the water feels good, and sure, I am permanently in love with water for some mysterious reason, spending a large part of my day in it in some form. But... restraint in self imposed heroism, out of humility ?
It's not the same Paul, you need to be outside when entering the cold water, full emersion, I am a bit of a purist, the cold shower is ok but not quite the full experience LOL
I'm told cold water is very good for reactivating the vagus nerve. I have cold showers quite frequently, but clearly I am not doing it properly. I'll go and empty the bin.
I didn't realise you could get a plunge pool for fifty quid though! That sounds quite tempting. You'll have to let us know if you recommend it.
It really does, that plus getting up and out soon after waking up to get the Lux light into your system, which sets the Circadian rhythm, very important now its much darker, in fact I have been sitting in the garden at about 6:45am and reading 'Against the Machine' wrapped up in a warm coat and bobble hat. You really do need a proper dunk rather than a cold shower though, the wheelie bin must be in a place where neighbours cannot see, that's a top tip.
I am very happy to see the Salon back! I hope that one day you might also bring back the Scriptorium (book club). In the meantime, anyone read anything good recently, apart from Against the Machine? I have just read and thoroughly enjoyed Is A River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane. It focuses on three areas of the world where people are fighting to protect their rivers and communities, and all are perfect examples of the "reactionary radicals" Paul writes about towards the end of his book.
I'm currently reading The Pursuit of God, by AW Tozer.
I suspect it won't be the last of his works I read.
It was recommended via the AIM podcast (Abide in Me) which has also been essential listening for me on my stumbling path to becoming a reluctant Christian!
I am enjoying Timothy Patitsas' "The Ethics of Beauty." It's a big book divided into sections, but I'm finding it surprisingly readable and illuminating. I highly recommend it, and I believe it's very complementary to the things Paul writes about.
I think of his writing about beauty as theophany, and your photos of forgotten wells (especially one beautiful scene of greenery that so struck me I remember). It seems to me such beauty as strikes us in a way to reveal God is itself a kind of Sabbath rest.
I'm reading "Let us now praise famous men", with text by James Agee and photos by Walker Evans, written around 1936. I have had this book for awhile, but have not read it. It is unclassable. "About" Alabama sharecropper families during this period. It is very sobering, beautiful, but gut wrenching. Agee is a poet writing prose here about how people survive in a "civilised" world that looks like one big concentration camp.
That is wonderful....WHAT A BOOK! I was assigned it for summer reading between my sophomore and junior years in high school. Along with "To Kill A Mockingbird". Really some revelations for a scrubby kid who grew up in Midwest surbubia 1950s - 60s.
Great thoughts on the Sabbath. I repeat all the time, God created sabbath for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Paul, any explicit thoughts on how Zionism manifest “The Machine?”
I’d be interested in that second point. Z does seem to be closely tied to the most antihuman forms of technology.
I don't know that Zionism - which is really just a form of nationalism - manifests the Machine more or less than any other form. Aggressive nationalisms (and aggressive religious ideologies such as Islamism) are all over the place now, though they are nothing new. They simply bring out the ancient human desire to possess territory for a tribe. The Middle East has two tribes warring over the same piece of territory and both claiming ancient rights. The state of Israel has the support of the techno-empire of the United States, which is probably the nerve centre of the Machine right now.
I'm always reluctant to weight in on 'Zionism', because however much I oppose much of what Israel does, I am also seeing a massive rise in anti-semitism everywhere, and excuses made for Hamas violence, and I have no answers to any of it, and very little knowledge. So as a rule, I say nothing.
Paul - want to thank you deeply for calling out (or even choosing to bring up) antisemitism, and your use of the word "excuses," in your response here. You didn't have to do it and it's more than most writers/artists would do at the moment. I've seen exactly the lack of it in action so many times. It is very frightening for anyone paying attention, and I'm so happy to note that you really are paying attention in all the ways your writing always suggests. It means so much.
Because I wasn't able to attend the salon, wanted to also place here a link to a recent Front Porch Republic article I had published -- think it will interest your readers; Rilke had a lot to say about the rhythms of the land, too: https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2025/08/reading-rilke-with-the-catherine-project/
Hope you are feeling better!
Worth a read: https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/new-painting-has-anyone-seen-the
Thankful to see the Salon return! I always enjoy reading the conversations, even when I don't chime in. Paul, you bring up a subject I've had a hard time with for all of my Christian life: The Sabbath. Like so many others, I ignore this commandment. But I would love to learn from others how they have been able to honor this commandment, even to a small degree.
For me observing the Sabbath is a very recent thing, mainly as becoming a Christian is also a relatively recent occurrence (I'm a couple of years or so on the journey).
As my life had slowly morphed to being increasingly "Christ-centred", and after many false starts I've finally found a church I can call my own, I've just gravitated to it naturally.
The things I used to prioritise on a Sunday, mainly sport related, have taken a back seat as I began to realise that stillness, prayer, church service and family time are all much, much more important.
As my faith has grown my priorities have simply shifted. For me, I really don't think it's any more complex than that.
At our church, the liturgy lasts 3 hours or so. Then the congregation all eats together (we take it in turns to cook). Then we read the Bible, and then sit around chatting while the priest hears confessions. Sometimes we have a prayer service afterwards. It takes most of the day.
Interesting that you do confession after the Liturgy. In Orthodoxy it is usually done before or after vespers the previous evening, to facilitate penitents taking communion.
In the Coptic Orthodox there is no hard rule, but it tends to be after liturgy, although it can be anytime. I wondered about what you said about penitents, but the priest said that the eucharist is spiritual medicine, so it is good preparation for confession.
In the stricter forms of the Russian tradition communion is only allowed those who have confessed, so you can see these traditions are 180 degrees opposite.
I think in our communion, it's that, if you commit a mortal sin, especially of the more dramatic and public type, like, say, adultery, you're expected to phone the priest and go to confession without a minute to waste. More routine sins are confessed regularly, usually after liturgy.
I have to say that I'm not certain about any of this, though.
We have a group that gets together once a month on the first Sunday afternoon in my home. We call it the Sabbath group. It began when I listened to a podcast on the Ezra Klein show (where he interviewed Judith Shulevitz, mentioned in a comment below). He’s coming from a Jewish perspective, and exploring the practice of keeping Sabbath. But it struck a chord in me. I sent it out to many friends and invited them all for potluck and discussion of what it means to keep Sabbath as Christians. It has been a wonderful monthly get together ever since. Another podcast we discovered along the way is Dr Nicole Roccas’ Time Eternal.
For myself, I did my best to clear my Sunday schedule of routine obligations and chores. I still usually cook for my family and do the dishes and things like that, but I try to let the rest go. I also scheduled a family game night, although it often doesn’t actually happen, to my sorrow. I make it a practice to not do any commerce on Sundays as well- I don’t go to any stores or libraries or anything that would require people to have to work there that day. I do make a large exception if my college kids are home- we sometimes go out for a meal at a restaurant.
I often come home from church where I am the choir director and involved in many activities, put my pajamas on and lie in bed to read or sleep. Since it’s the only time of the week I really do something like that, it’s a little personal Sabbath rest.
these are just my small ideas. It was such a foreign concept to me that I had to start somewhere.I’d love to hear what other people do to keep Sabbath!
Thank you for telling us about what you are doing.
I believe that eating together is the beginning of society, and that the way that we eat together, the setting for eating together, is a very big indication of what kind of society we live in.
Even though I am not Christian, and will not become Christian at this time, I believe in the sacredness ? of eating together, and free speech around a table where people can talk and be listened to. I know that this is something that the Gospels strongly emphasized, to the extent that we often see and hear Jesus saying important things during a meal time.
But maybe this is one of the basic, minimum ? requirements for Western civilisation. It seems to me that the Oriental eating experience is not organized around the table, but maybe I am wrong.
I do commerce on Sundays, sometimes, when I go to my local market, but only occasionally. Maybe going to a local market on Sundays, even if there is buying and selling, is not the same thing as going to a supermarket, for example ? The market is in open air, and it rarely lasts all day. The market people are engaged in an activity that goes way back to Antiquity.
By choice, and by a form of refusal to engage in associative activities at this time, I have a lot of free time to..rest, and it is a great challenge to give structure to it, without falling into a technological black hole, but maybe this is a form of calling for me ? Who knows ?
Maybe there could be a form of sacredness in daily life, in taking care of the HOME, making it by taking care of it, and the people in it, and that the Sabbath is about trying to find a way of not getting sucked into compulsive activity, whether it be housework, technology, whatever ? Being able to have the discipline of getting up to break off and do something different, with our without money, moreover.
Check out Abraham Heschel's "The Sabbath"... you will never look at Sundays the same way again!
Thank you for the recommendation!
Perhaps I will pass as an intellectual (how evil, to be an intellectual...) in writing this, but here goes : I think that the Sabbath is/was intended to constitute a break in the routine of daily life, and of buying and selling, for example. And as such, it structured time, giving rhythm to our way of being in the world. It broke up a continuum that threatened to make our time one big frozen lump, with no Difference in it or in us. I think ? that when we have no structure to divide our time up, it freezes us up. Maybe most people here will be puzzled reading this, but I am a housewife living at home in a setting where I have much time available for thinking, meditating ?, reading, being alone (or not). I have the freedom which society gives me, of being able to dress whatever way I want, in all circumstances, without anybody opening their mouths to criticize me. And I have been to religious funerals recently where people wear jeans.
So, maybe out of a desire to be different ? I don't know, I have tried to dress up to go to Church, to make myself pretty, wearing jewelry, a little makeup, to show the Lord ? show other people ? that it is possible ? important to make oneself presentable, and could even be a sign of being joyful doing this. No miniskirts, no plunging necklines, no wiggling and jiggling during the short mass, but being pretty while making a JOYFUL noise unto the Lord.
Does our understanding of what it means to worship the Lord change with the society that we live in ? Could... ornament really be a gift of God, and not of the devil ? I hope so.
It is Sunday morning, and I am here in this salon, and not in church. For various reasons, I have given up on going to church on Sunday morning. Maybe one day I will come back to it, maybe not.
I will try to discipline myself to not spend hours here this morning, and not fall into the TEMPTATION of this black hole. This is my personal ? private ? Lent.
For anyone interested in engaging in hopeful ways to live in the Machine Age, there is a Doomer Optimism Gathering in Ligonier, PA from Nov 7-8. Speakers will include myself and my wife Ruth Gaskovski, Freya India, Suzy Weiss, Ashely Fitzgerald, Grant Martsolf, Michael Toscano and many more.
"We'll explore the far-reaching effects of technology, the promises and dangers of transhumanism, and the search for meaning in a world increasingly defined by machines. Our discussions will challenge how the Machine influences everything from the structure of families and our relationship with the environment to issues of personal freedom and social inequality, all while celebrating moments of creative rebellion.
Beyond the presentations, panels, open mics, we'll spend time connecting over shared meals and hold lively debates over drinks and more.
This is a small scale event and there are still a few tickets left. Find out more about the event or register here. https://www.savagecollective.org/doomer-optimism-gathering-2
I'll be there. Looking forward to it!
Are the tix really $350?
Yes, alas!
What a great name for a charming concept. Wish I were closer, but alas... The convivial aspect calls to mind the 'Supra', the Georgian Toasting Feast gaining traction in various places. We recently had one here in Alabama and it was delightful.
This will undoubtably be a wonderful time. So wish I could join you!
Wish I could attend but youngest child of my four and the last to do so is getting married in the farm field across the street from our home. Praying for good weather and a lovely if chilly autumn Hobbity vibe! Have a great gathering. Hope you’ll document some of it to share for those who can’t be there.
I'm on the other side of PA and can't make it but this sounds great. Hadn't encountered Pilgrims in the Machine before but just subscribed.
Glad to see the Salon open again. I'm feeling a bit low today but this is heartening. Always enjoyed the conversations here, even the ones that got a bit off the rails.
Hope you are well, Pauly. You have a face to me, even if I have never seen it. A face AND A NAME.
Cheers.
Paul, will the Book of Wild Saints be in hard copy also? I can read essays and reporting on screen, but trying to read stories off a screen is very unappealing; it's like skim milk or soyburgers - I'd rather go hungry and wait for the real thing.
I am glad you're resting. I hope you publish hard copies of all your writings, but I also hope your reputation achieves such dizzying heights that you never have to do Promotion again.
Absolutely, it will be a real book with beautiful illustrations. I'm excited about it.
I agree with you. I can't read fiction or poetry on a screen. The medium is the message.
My ideal time to be a writer would probably have been the 19th century, if I were a Victorian gentleman. I could just publish my story or monograph, then retire to my club. No podcasts required!
Have you read Tolkien's letters? As an author, you would like them very much. It is such a different world before word-processing, home printers, and even typewriters.
I read them too. I was astonished at how poor he was, sometimes in distress as he had two boys in school which was an all important spend for him. As well poor old Tolkien wrote his books, then struggled to get them typed himself or someone paid to do it. He was never highly paid to teach and he only realized good bucks from Lord of… until late in life. Wonderful Catholic man that he was, we must appreciate his struggles as well as his literary successes.
Over vacation, (but not for me, because my husband and I were taking care of three little'uns, between 6 and 2), we watched Jane Campion's "Bright Star" about Keats and Fanny Brawne. Maybe I will try to read "Why did I laugh tonight ?" today, if I can get out of the molasses...
Good for the beautiful book. The Lord loves beauty, and hates ugliness. After all, if we were made in His image, it should be beautiful, and We should be beautiful, too, and try to make beauty in the world. Hopefully.
Ha !
I am very very happy that the monthly salons are up and running again, mainly because I love good conversation, and it is a rarity, and it is here sometimes. I am also very intrigued that interest in the monthly salon waned so much, because my interest in it has never waned.
Yes, for the Sabbath. I have noticed that what you call the Machine, Paul, is largely the huge prejudice/idea that we have that we are machines, and not corruptible flesh and blood living beings. People have a hard time understanding that when they... rest, or sleep, they have not had their switches, or cords pulled, and HAVE NOT STOPPED. They continue to live, to breathe, to think, dream, while they are momentarily absent to their conscious perception of themselves. This seems to be very difficult for most people to get their minds around.
Readings that have kicked me in the stomach recently, because I watch almost no videos, no T.V. no smartphone, etc : James Agee for words, and Walker Evans for photos in the 1936 book "Let us now praise famous men" about Agee's and Evan's time spent in a few white sharecropper families at the time in Alabama. Agee has kicked me in the stomach, and I am trying to recover from it, while significantly questioning many of my assumptions about what could be ? right, or truth in the world.
I'll be back later, but not for too long, because I know that spending too much time on the machine is not good for me or US.
I hope that you will manage to get rest, and rested, Paul.
There's a book by a Jewish author on the Sabbath on how she deliberately reclaimed the day, having been brought up as a rather more secular Jew. I'll have to look up the title again (it's at home, and I'm at work). Worth reading.
Found the title! "The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of TIme", by Judith Shulevitz.
Boy can I relate. I was hospitalized and nearly done in by double pneumonia at age 35, which caught me as I was trying to fend off the flu. Had a very demanding job as a school administrator entailing hard work all day, and two to three meetings weekly in the evening. Beyond that, had two kids - a toddler and an infant - to care for all weekend, every weekend, whilst my partner worked. So I learned. You just can't burn the candle at both ends in life. At least, not for long - without health consequence. And INDEED this is a Machine behavior. We can so readily and easily get caught up up being DRIVEN, while telling ourselves the story that we are in fact the driver. Just the kind of pathology that the machine thrives on. So Paul, glad you are lightening the load! And YES to the Sabbath!! Take care!
I had a serious pneumonia when I was just 14. It remains the worst illness I ever had, yes, beating out Covid and even giardiasis (if you don't know anything about the latter don't ask). I was so sick by the time they found an antibiotic that would work I didn't care if I lived or died
Yikes. I also had it at age 9. With the one when I was 35, I had a fever of 105-106. Hospital for three days. Out of work for a month. Crazy.
On a happier note, while pilgrimage opportunities in the US are scarce, there is one this weekend, *also* in Ligonier, Pennsylvania (albeit a week offset from Peco's gathering, which I am sad to miss), at Antiochian Village, for St. Raphael of Brooklyn. I'm taking some guys from my parish.
Since I know you're making use of your new camera rig, if you are at home resting, this is (at least here in the States) a great time of year to make use of it. Sadly, Substack doesn't allow pictures in the comments, else I'd drop a few here. I find photography a fine way to detach from things and rest.
It is good to hear you are slowly recovering from illness. I was reminded to think of you and Abbey of Misrule during Sunday's sermon. The vicar's theme was hesychasm and the benefits of constant prayer. He even referred to The Way of a Pilgrim, a book you suggested AoM subscribers should read. I was surprised but pleased to hear all this as part of a bog standard CofE service. Depends how you define Sabbath, I suppose. Is it a regular day a week? An extended period taken off for reflection and recuperation? I find myself having been slowly drawn in to regular practice. I started by attending church on particular occasions, Christmas. Easter, All Hallows etc. Then it became every other Sunday. Now it doesn't feel right, if I don't go. It's a day I generally spend by myself. After church I treat myself to a roast lunch and then a long walk where I can reflect. It has come to feel quite strange seeing people go about their parallel lives on Sundays. The young joggers who always pound past me on Sundays, worshipping at the Church of Fitness, with no real thought for the fitness of the soul. But I guess one day they will feel the need.
Just want to recommend a book by Jill Bolte Taylor..'The Whole Brain Living'. Those familiar with Ian Mcgilchrist's work will find it very compatible. She had a stroke on her left hemisphere and lost all that came with it...recovered after many yrs. She has some extraordinary things to share about her experiences . She was studying neuroanatomy at Harvard when she had the stroke (in her 40's).
Her view of how the different generations use and see technology is also very interesting. Being a Boomer , I put a very high value on privacy but this is all most the opposite of my Millennial children and friends who share everything openly...Is this just the constant swing of generations that want to rebel against the old order?
The difference in how generations use and respond to technology really is fascinating. I am an early Milennial (perhaps), born in 1982. My older friends do not feel the same pull towards smartphones and screens as I do. The compulsion, I believe, really has been hard-wired by repeated use at a young age. I think many of the older generation are unaware of the dangers of the technology because they are partly immune to it -- they don't have the same grooves in their minds.
I've added the book to my considerations for reading. Thank you.
Joesph Chilton Pierce wrote about this some yrs ago..how the brain is effected by screens. His recommendation was to keep them away from children and their early development. But progressive liberalism and economics are what we are driven towards.. but maybe a silver lining ? Many younger people are increasingly disenchanted with much of it... and maybe it's a very old story and been going on a long time..the shiny new thing is just the devil in disguise.
Well, speaking as a "young person," I do think that my generation is becoming more and more wary of the convenience, the alienation, the "cheap and easy" mentality. Not that they don't take advantage of it, to their benefit and detriment! But I think it occasionally makes people kind of nauseated, and they want to be free of this temptation.
There's a song by the Proclaimers that might reflect this feeling, though it's about a woman, not about technology. The first lines run something like "I like the smell of petrol... I like the taste of booze... but I hate my lust for you, I hate my lust for you."
Many of us feel the chains, and begin to hate our lust.
Can't help thinking that having lust for a woman is maybe a little healthier than having lust for the black hole. Having lust for a woman may even be healthier ? than having lust for alcohol.
Age has taught me that the sins of the flesh are less dramatic than the sins of the spirit.
After all, God forgave David for his shenanigans with/for Bethsaba, even though some people I know think that He was wrong. (yes, yes, many people do not understand this.)
But when David went mad and engaged in a census operation of the Jewish people, God was less forgiving. That has made me think.
Great news about the monthly salons, Paul! But make your health a priority. We’ll all understand.
Conversation starter:
In Theosis, loving God with all my heart and soul and strength is normal. In Theosis, loving my neighbor as myself is normal.
In Theosis, loving my enemies is normal.
Forgive my ignorance, George, but what is Theosis? I think that since the Fall, it is NOT normal to love God, or Neighbour. It’s the pull or need to love that remains that is normal.
I like to meditate on what Adam and Eve felt when they found themselves outside The Garden and had only their fallen nature to rely on. I believe this is what foolish archeologists and anthropologists think of as primitive ape man scratching in the dirt to find roots and grubs to eat. Just Adam and his wife with no “super-powers.”
Theosis ("deification," "divinization") is the process of a worshiper becoming free of hamartía ("missing the mark"), being united with God, beginning in this life and later consummated in bodily resurrection. For eastern Christians, Théōsis (see 2 Pet. 1:4) is salvation. Théōsis assumes that humans from the beginning are made to share in the Life or Nature of the all-Holy Trinity. Therefore, an infant or an adult worshiper is saved from the state of unholiness (hamartía — which is not to be confused with hamártēma “sin”) for participation in the Life (zōé, not simply bíos) of the Trinity — which is everlasting.
Theosis is participation in the life of the Holy Trinity, where there is distinction of persons but interpenetration and sharing of being. It’s living in Heaven where I have everything I want and need, God, and He has me.
Re: or eastern Christians, Théōsis (see 2 Pet. 1:4) is salvation.
This is not quite true. Salvation is the beginning of the process and that comes to us through Christ's victory over Death. From there we must strive to grow in our faith, and the process may well (usually does) last beyond physical death-- hence why we pray for the dead.
Theosis is not a one time thing. It begins at baptism and if one does not stray from the path, then it grows and becomes more complete as one live in Christ in this life and the next.
I'm uncomfortable with the term "theosis". I get that it can be legitimate in the sense in which it is used, but it sounds pantheistic; I'd prefer "sanctification", although that can imply an Evangelical understanding. We Oriental Orthodox disapprove of the term, and it is one of the barriers to reunion with the Eastern Orthodox.
It goes back to very early centuries in Orthodoxy. St Athanasius (the opponent of the Arians) said, "God became man that Man might become God". Of course that could be badly misunderstood and even great saints are not infallible, but the idea existed before the Churches of the East split over other doctrinal quarrels.
Rombald, it’s not pantheism where God is everything and everything is God. In the fullest experience of Theosis, there still distinction of persons. There is participation in the life of the Holy Trinity, participation in the shared energies of the Trinity but not in the essence of God. I’m still me no matter how much I am completely in communion with God.
Truly hoping the Book of Wild Saints emerges from a prayerful, contemplative, deeply relaxed heart… then its impact will be greater.
Very best wishes, Paul, from this fellow 53 year old also exhausted by too much work and writing books! I taught T'ai Chi for almost 20 years and started back in 1986. Yet twice in my life, once for 10 years, and up until now for 5 years, I took time off doing this superb practice that had been at the centre of my life. The results were to be expected, the first lapse led to a disc herniating in my spine, the recent lapse certainly contributed to burn-out. And yet, the pauses seem to have been important in their own way, both by truly seeing what it was I was neglecting, but also that one cannot sustain a machine-like 'solid state' of energy for anything, including that which is manifestly good for you! I noticed it very much with reading, which waned tremendously during lockdowns, much to my own surprise and annoyance, but has returned over the last year, thank goodness. Friends have mentioned similar waxing and waning in their lives with prayer and meditation too.
So, from the happier position of now being back in regular daily practice, my question for any readers is this. What beneficial practices and habits, which you genuinely loved, have you let fall by the wayside? And how did you manage to pick them up again?
Greetings to all from rainbow-skied Hexham.
A cold plunge 2 min pool dunk every morning from October! I was off it for 2 years and now I’ve got a fancy £50 one from Amazon which is a serious upgrade from my wheelie bin, which was rather tricky to get in and out of. How did I do without it!
Are you MAD!!!!!! But thank you for that amusing image of a grown woman taking a frigid dip in a wheelie-bin!!!!! Did you lower yourself down with a hoist of some sort…what a picture…
Haha I had an elaborate stepladder set up now with my bespoke plunge pool I just step in, I swear by it in the colder months! I also swim weekly in the river Cam, cold water therapy folks, it’s awesome! 🥶
Yeah good for some but here in Canada in the winter I’d have to break through a foot of ice before any plunging could take place. A good priest I know recommends turning off the hot water a minute or so before the end of a shower as a cowardly alternative.
Yes that’s good and convenient also! Canada is a whole different ball game to Cambridge, UK where is almost never even snows
Anna, I just had a peek at your painting on your substack. Can I say they are absolutely beautiful! Full of wonder. Colours so deep. And a fresh feel. I just love, love them!
I try to start with cold water. I have a hand-held showerhead, and I first keep my feet cold. Attitude matters, so I work my way up, and somehow, little by little, manage to get "most of me" into the cold water. I remember being little in the "very cold water" of the hose during the summertime. As a child, if there was a pool or a river or a lake, OF COURSE, it was time to go swimming... PLEASE.....? So, I go back to that sort of vibe, for as long as I dare "waste the water" (or the time). Then... it is so nice to take a HOT shower.
Love this exchange. Thanks for it. I have been swimming in cold water for several years now, but not in the winter. I switch to the cold water at the end of a shower, every once in awhile in the winter. (In the summer, I take almost no showers or anything, because the creek is right facing our house, and I can use it (!!!) almost every day. After all, why do I want to be a... hero ? and just how far do I have to go to prove to myself that I am one ?
Sure, the water feels good, and sure, I am permanently in love with water for some mysterious reason, spending a large part of my day in it in some form. But... restraint in self imposed heroism, out of humility ?
So good!
Why not just have a cold shower? It sounds easier!
It's not the same Paul, you need to be outside when entering the cold water, full emersion, I am a bit of a purist, the cold shower is ok but not quite the full experience LOL
I'm told cold water is very good for reactivating the vagus nerve. I have cold showers quite frequently, but clearly I am not doing it properly. I'll go and empty the bin.
I didn't realise you could get a plunge pool for fifty quid though! That sounds quite tempting. You'll have to let us know if you recommend it.
It really does, that plus getting up and out soon after waking up to get the Lux light into your system, which sets the Circadian rhythm, very important now its much darker, in fact I have been sitting in the garden at about 6:45am and reading 'Against the Machine' wrapped up in a warm coat and bobble hat. You really do need a proper dunk rather than a cold shower though, the wheelie bin must be in a place where neighbours cannot see, that's a top tip.
I am very happy to see the Salon back! I hope that one day you might also bring back the Scriptorium (book club). In the meantime, anyone read anything good recently, apart from Against the Machine? I have just read and thoroughly enjoyed Is A River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane. It focuses on three areas of the world where people are fighting to protect their rivers and communities, and all are perfect examples of the "reactionary radicals" Paul writes about towards the end of his book.
I'm currently reading The Pursuit of God, by AW Tozer.
I suspect it won't be the last of his works I read.
It was recommended via the AIM podcast (Abide in Me) which has also been essential listening for me on my stumbling path to becoming a reluctant Christian!
I plan to bring the Scriptorium back next year, all being well (including me!) Watch this space.
I am enjoying Timothy Patitsas' "The Ethics of Beauty." It's a big book divided into sections, but I'm finding it surprisingly readable and illuminating. I highly recommend it, and I believe it's very complementary to the things Paul writes about.
PS If one thinks about it, beauty is a kind if Sabbath in and of itself.
I met Timothy on my tour of the US recently. He was very hospitable. His book is always being highly recommended.
I think of his writing about beauty as theophany, and your photos of forgotten wells (especially one beautiful scene of greenery that so struck me I remember). It seems to me such beauty as strikes us in a way to reveal God is itself a kind of Sabbath rest.
I'm reading "Let us now praise famous men", with text by James Agee and photos by Walker Evans, written around 1936. I have had this book for awhile, but have not read it. It is unclassable. "About" Alabama sharecropper families during this period. It is very sobering, beautiful, but gut wrenching. Agee is a poet writing prose here about how people survive in a "civilised" world that looks like one big concentration camp.
That is wonderful....WHAT A BOOK! I was assigned it for summer reading between my sophomore and junior years in high school. Along with "To Kill A Mockingbird". Really some revelations for a scrubby kid who grew up in Midwest surbubia 1950s - 60s.