Hi folks!
Well, I'm happy to say I just finished the book I have been working on. Wow, am I glad that's done.
But let me back up. As some of you know, we had a flood in our house in June (caused by water from the unit above us), and it wasn't until October that the house was livable again. Tammy, Anjela, Zeph, and Zach were all in the Philippines the whole time (working on Zeph's immigration to bring him here) so they missed it all, but it put me way behind on my projects:
The ROME Book - This year I revised my book ROME: A Pilgrim's Guide to the Eternal City, for a second edition, in time for the Jubilee year. Except that it wasn't done when it was supposed to be, so it's not out yet. Hopefully soon. That was supposed to be finished over the summer, and it wasn't actually finished until December.
The Original Church - This is a book I was asked to write, and it's going to be published by Scepter Press. It's basically everything on my YouTube channel turned into a book, but with extra emphasis on how the lay Christians of the early Church lived and practiced their faith, and how that can help us do the same. That was supposed to be done December 15th. It was finished today at 4:59 eastern time.
Now I have to catch up on grading some papers, but I will also be able to work on The Journey, and get us into John chapter 6 - so that is coming...
And I'm still waiting to hear about the next book project with Sophia Institute Press. It's supposed to be Praying Like the Mystics but I have a zoom call with them next Thursday. Assuming that's a go, it will take me a year to write it.
In the meantime, it looks like I might be doing some writing for Ascension Press. If all goes well, I might actually get to meet Fr. Mike! We'll see.
Have a great weekend - I know I will!
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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