Hi folks - as you know, the next major section in our Journey through the Gospels is John chapter 6, with the feeding of the multitude (along with synoptic parallels) and the Bread of Life discourse. I am really looking forward to getting into that!
Having said that, I have prayerfully discerned that doing The Journey as a live stream is not really working. The main reason is that it's just too much to expect very many people to organize their lives around it - and I completely understand that - which means I am that much more grateful for those of you who have made the commitment to try to be online with me for the live streams. But for the time being, at least, I'm going to let go of the live format, and do sessions of The Journey as pre-recorded videos, which I will upload to Locals. Then you can watch each session at your convenience. You won't have the immediate Q&A, but I hope you will post your questions whenever you watch the video. Please plan to post your comments and questions to the main feed here in the community (as opposed to commenting on the video itself). That way everyone can see the comment or question, and my response.
I have not yet heard back from one of my publishers about a book contract for 2025, so I don't yet have a sense of the big picture of my work load for this year, but I have some other writing projects I've been asked to do, and my schedule of speaking gigs has ramped up too, so I'm not entirely sure what my writing and podcasting/video schedule will look like this year, but I do hope to have occasional live streams, and/or revisit some of the "venues" (piazza, pub, cafe) that we've tried in the past. I really appreciate your patience as we try things and see what works, and I am committed to doing everything I can to make participation in this community worth your time.
It has always been my hope that this would become a place of conversation, and that I could funnel all comments and questions from other platforms, like YouTube, here to this main feed. That is still my goal, so I encourage you to post here - comments, questions, deep thoughts, prayer requests, reflections on (or questions about) one of my books, recommendations for other books, or movies, or whatever. Although we try to keep this a politics-free and argument-free zone, it is appropriate to talk about cultural issues and how we live our faith in the world. I would love for this to become a place of mutual encouragement.
OK, that's all for now - more info to come - Remember we won't be doing the Saturday morning sessions of The Journey any more - just look for the next installment of The Journey to be uploaded as a video. Sorry to say, it won't be this weekend - I have some homework to do! Just know that I will try to have a new installment more or less every week, but I can't promise to give myself specific deadlines. Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions!
- Jim
Dear friends - Please take 10 minutes to watch this personal update from me:
I'm back, up and running, and ready to go - I should have a new JOURNEY episode within the next week or so - and because you are my loyal peeps, here is an exclusive, just-for-you, behind the scenes SNEAK PEEK into my new office:
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
The problem with us men is that often we don't have the wisdom to be a father until we're a grandfather.
This may sounds like some ironic statement that makes you nod your head in agreement but shrug your shoulders in resignation, thinking, well there's nothing we can do about that. But the practical application of that is that it demonstrates how important it is for kids to grow up around their grandparents. But as in our culture the family becomes ever more fractured and spread out, that is harder and harder to do.
Lately I've been thinking that part of the problem is the whole concept of college. It used to be that everyone thought a person had to go to college to make a good living. Not only is that not the case (truck drivers make more money than I do) but now college has gone from useless to actually ruining our kids. But when I went to college, what you were supposed to do is figure out what career you wanted (as if anyone knows that at age 18) and then go away to the college ...
And don't forget, if you would like to read my latest novel:
The Sword and the Clover - just let me know by email.
I'm happy to send you the PDF version, even if you haven't been a monetary supporter of the community - all I ask is that you don't share it with anyone else.
My email address:
Keep in touch!
JIm
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