Notes From the Field #2
Growth, Change, 'Patricide' and Lessons from a Whale. Here are some Things You Might Have Missed From my Catholic Adventure
Hello again, subscribers and fellow Catholic adventurers! Thank you once again for supporting and following my work. I do all of this for you, and I hope it helps you along the way in your adventure of living life as Catholics on your journey to sainthood.
This is the 2nd “Notes from the Field” newsletter, bringing you in the loop of some things you may have missed on my blog (outside of Substack) and Twitter meanderings.
I’ve been bustling these past couple of weeks, writing and posting like an over-caffeinated Aquinas, and if I had to update you on everything, this newsletter would become a book (Summa Blogespheria? Summa Socialmedia?). So I’ve curated just a few of these “notes” from the field for your delecatio lectionis (reading pleasure).
In this Newsletter 7/16/23
Blog: When Prayer isn’t Prayer | Post: Fish Out of Water | Blog: Growth vs. Change | Brainstorm: Rejection of God and Fatherhood | Bonus: Video
“When Prayer Isn’t Prayer”
If you haven’t noticed, I’m very big on prayer. But sometimes, our prayer is vain and not holy. Shocking but true. And sometimes our prayer is more about a routine rather than the elevation of our mind and hearts to God. I know these difficulties very well, in my own experience. So I wrote a little something to help others to purify and intensify their own prayer lives.
We Are Fish Out of Water
Here's another little lesson on prayer…from a whale. I created this graphic and wrote this for Twitter, mirroring it on my blog. Here’s a special delivery for you!
“A whale has lungs. It’s the mammal that’s “the fish out of water” because while not being a fish, it lives in the water. But, having lungs, it needs to breathe. It has to come up to the surface to draw breath, or it will die. We are like fish out of water, too.
We are in the world but not of the world. If we don’t rise above the muck and mire of life in the world frequently to reconnect with the source of our lives we will die. Come up and breathe! Pray often, my friends”
Growth Vs. Change
This likely upset a few people and cost me a few followers on Twitter. A lot of Catholics don’t like hearing anything that implies the Catholic Church “changes”. It doesn’t change, but to say that the Church grows is a very different thing from saying that it changes.
Many of us want to see the Church as it was when we were young(er)—a Church that is consistent in its character, like a Bing Crosby movie that never ends. I wish the Church could be that way, too! But God has placed us in this time, and it’s a period of growth and development in the Church.
The Church does grow, even though it doesn’t change. That can be hard to accept and adapt to—it’s called “growing pains” for a reason. It may not be what we’d like or prefer, but it is the era that God has placed us in for his purposes. So I wrote this little piece to help Catholics to understand and embrace it.
Now for the Piece of Resistance
The pièce de resistance of today’s newsletter is a Brainstorm essay—a pre-write of a major essay or article that I intend to publish very soon that discusses the connection between the culture’s rejection of fatherhood and its rejection of God.
These Brainstorm pieces are supposed to spark interest in the reader, as well as help me to organize my thoughts a bit. I plan on having the full essay written this week. If you’re a subscriber, you’ll be notified when it’s published.
Note: My posts on social media reach barely 1/3 of my followers. “Thank you, algorithm!” But as a subscriber to my Substack, you’re being notified of 100% of everything I publish. Winning!
Bonus: Video Reel
A very little reel I created and intend to use to market the essay once it’s published. Please don’t share this video as it will upset my marketing strategy when my essay is published. This is for your eyes only.
That’s a wrap! Thanks again for subscribing. follow me on Twitter and Facebook. Not a subscriber? You can solve that sad situation below (and I thank you!). And consider downloading the Substack app for your device. It brings the whole experience and Substack environment to you. I enjoy it very much, and I think my readers will, too.
Ave Maria, Virgo Fidelis!