I'm so glad to hear that your wife is recovered, Jeff. Thank you for letting us know, and for returning to us (and your beautiful roots!).
It probably comes as no surprise that you are singing my song in this piece. The Art of Freedom is happily aligned with The Quality of Life Resistance Movement! This, especially: "...only the divine spark of life confers freedom. We can only work to preserve or surrender it."
May we continue to breathe life into that spark. Welcome back. xox
Thank you, Mary. Yes, Your Art of Freedom is very much aligned (thankfully) with the Quality of Life Resistance Movement. In fact, I'll be citing your article "Harvey" in the not-too-distant future as a compassionate and wonderfully composed ode to freedom, and a visionary caution against the soul-crushing and anti-freedom forces of conformity.
PS Your comments about ritualized spirituality are spot-on. It explains why Orthodox Christianity is experiencing a surge in membership, particularly among young people. Paul Kingsnorth did an interview on UnHerd about it that was quite interesting...
Thanks for the excellent link, Mary. Yup, while the more liberal sects of the major faiths are losing membership, the orthodox sects seem to be in ascent -- in no small measure because of stricter adherence to the religious rituals that enhance and protect the lives of their congregants.
Good to “see” you again & that all is well-worn returned to groovy.
Saw this recently, it scrolls at beginning of Zeitgeist: Moving Forward (which might be the 3rd in the Zeitgeist trilogy … or trilogin? “Replace” all those older religions with scientific system & well-worn WEF wet dreamscapes … forgive me fathers, but you have sinned):
In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay. And unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it. ~ Ernst Fischer
The Importance of Being Ernst - the optimist (& we know Wilde’s take on optimism).
All those different reverences only make me hungry for scrambled eggs:
“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’ ’
The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’ ’
The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”
“Spiritual” I have long synesthesia’d that humptydumpty as usually mostly having to do with spears & pierced sides & other punctuating equilibrium wounds.
So lets try this …. Esprit du Corpus Christi, Texas. First grade. The bathrooms were in the classroom, nothing but a thin hollow door between your sound effects & classmates & teacher. One of the boys liked to spit on the girls. Teacher taught that one by making him take a bite of soap. (Fast forward a few years to that school in Uvalde … hole lotta esprit du corpulence milled around outside that active shooter scene. I think Miss Bar Soap might have just waded right in.) I flew my first kite there. When I let out the string wound round the cardboard tube I discovered it wasn’t tied off. Look at it go! “Jesus Christ,” said papa in less than proud tones. Some years later, post gold window closure & well into fiat inflation & opectitus gas line stoicism I witnessed papa kiting invisible-tailed checks of his own. Times was hard but I never even thought to dare to say “Jesus Christ” in that goes around comes around tone to him. No siree! That would have been a meet your maker error & thankfully my tube was wound a little tighter than that.
Thank you, Andy, and so good to hear your inimitable voice once again.
The Zeitgeist of Technopoly must destroy any and all competing gods, just as pop culture must obliterate history. The eradication of the family dinner table and the sabbath day of rest in the 20th century eliminated the last two meaningful faith-based rituals and cleared the way for the Rise of Huxwell (https://qolrm.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-huxwell) in the 21st century.
I think all art reflects the current state of society (good and bad) to the extent that art is always interpreted through the eyes of the present. The problem occurs when art is somehow required to reflect a certain ideological sensibility. At that point it ceases to be art and becomes agitprop: what results when mediocre artists are hired to produce mediocre propaganda -- like advertising.
Of course major corporations have invested many trillions of dollars (yes, you read that right) in advertising over the past few generations to produce agitprop and generate desired results. But great art endures precisely because it exists separate and apart from any professed sensibilities or objectives -- especially those of the artist. Moreover, great art, however secular, is always imbued with and animated by faith. Great art is always existentially self aware -- free like the wind to travel across generations regardless of temporal critique.
Glad you survived your kite runner encounters, Andy. Glad also you shared them. Many thanks for that, as always...
I'm so glad to hear that your wife is recovered, Jeff. Thank you for letting us know, and for returning to us (and your beautiful roots!).
It probably comes as no surprise that you are singing my song in this piece. The Art of Freedom is happily aligned with The Quality of Life Resistance Movement! This, especially: "...only the divine spark of life confers freedom. We can only work to preserve or surrender it."
May we continue to breathe life into that spark. Welcome back. xox
Thank you, Mary. Yes, Your Art of Freedom is very much aligned (thankfully) with the Quality of Life Resistance Movement. In fact, I'll be citing your article "Harvey" in the not-too-distant future as a compassionate and wonderfully composed ode to freedom, and a visionary caution against the soul-crushing and anti-freedom forces of conformity.
PS Your comments about ritualized spirituality are spot-on. It explains why Orthodox Christianity is experiencing a surge in membership, particularly among young people. Paul Kingsnorth did an interview on UnHerd about it that was quite interesting...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqNhmMJ30mQ&ab_channel=UnHerd
Thanks for the excellent link, Mary. Yup, while the more liberal sects of the major faiths are losing membership, the orthodox sects seem to be in ascent -- in no small measure because of stricter adherence to the religious rituals that enhance and protect the lives of their congregants.
Good to “see” you again & that all is well-worn returned to groovy.
Saw this recently, it scrolls at beginning of Zeitgeist: Moving Forward (which might be the 3rd in the Zeitgeist trilogy … or trilogin? “Replace” all those older religions with scientific system & well-worn WEF wet dreamscapes … forgive me fathers, but you have sinned):
In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay. And unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it. ~ Ernst Fischer
The Importance of Being Ernst - the optimist (& we know Wilde’s take on optimism).
All those different reverences only make me hungry for scrambled eggs:
“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’ ’
The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’ ’
The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”
“Spiritual” I have long synesthesia’d that humptydumpty as usually mostly having to do with spears & pierced sides & other punctuating equilibrium wounds.
So lets try this …. Esprit du Corpus Christi, Texas. First grade. The bathrooms were in the classroom, nothing but a thin hollow door between your sound effects & classmates & teacher. One of the boys liked to spit on the girls. Teacher taught that one by making him take a bite of soap. (Fast forward a few years to that school in Uvalde … hole lotta esprit du corpulence milled around outside that active shooter scene. I think Miss Bar Soap might have just waded right in.) I flew my first kite there. When I let out the string wound round the cardboard tube I discovered it wasn’t tied off. Look at it go! “Jesus Christ,” said papa in less than proud tones. Some years later, post gold window closure & well into fiat inflation & opectitus gas line stoicism I witnessed papa kiting invisible-tailed checks of his own. Times was hard but I never even thought to dare to say “Jesus Christ” in that goes around comes around tone to him. No siree! That would have been a meet your maker error & thankfully my tube was wound a little tighter than that.
Thank you, Andy, and so good to hear your inimitable voice once again.
The Zeitgeist of Technopoly must destroy any and all competing gods, just as pop culture must obliterate history. The eradication of the family dinner table and the sabbath day of rest in the 20th century eliminated the last two meaningful faith-based rituals and cleared the way for the Rise of Huxwell (https://qolrm.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-huxwell) in the 21st century.
I think all art reflects the current state of society (good and bad) to the extent that art is always interpreted through the eyes of the present. The problem occurs when art is somehow required to reflect a certain ideological sensibility. At that point it ceases to be art and becomes agitprop: what results when mediocre artists are hired to produce mediocre propaganda -- like advertising.
Of course major corporations have invested many trillions of dollars (yes, you read that right) in advertising over the past few generations to produce agitprop and generate desired results. But great art endures precisely because it exists separate and apart from any professed sensibilities or objectives -- especially those of the artist. Moreover, great art, however secular, is always imbued with and animated by faith. Great art is always existentially self aware -- free like the wind to travel across generations regardless of temporal critique.
Glad you survived your kite runner encounters, Andy. Glad also you shared them. Many thanks for that, as always...
Praying for your wife's health and strength for you in all your endeavors in the coming year.
Thank you, Kathleen. Her recovery has been remarkable, and we need all the help we can get...
Thank you, my friend, and all the best to you and your family for a wondrous 2025!
nice to receive a post from you; a welcome event.
Prayers for the Mrs.
It's wonderful to see you back behind the keyboard again, Jeff. I've missed your wit and wisdom.