Category: Blogging

It’s A New Week

And it’s going to be interesting in terms of posting. First up, I didn’t get much posted at the end of last week. Friday, I got to spend some time with my Godmother, which is always a delight. She’s trying to finish a book on early German/Germanic saints and I go over on occasion to be her on-site, on-call tech support as she and the computer do not always get along. We have a good time, usually a good visit on top of that, and it is fun seeing how she is trying to put the book in question together.

Saturday was full, as I had some work to do for the church early, and then went up to the Carmel Farmer’s Market. I was really hoping that one particular vendor would have some items in stock; but, sadly, it will be a few weeks until they have them again. To be honest, they have some of the best dried sausages I’ve had outside of Europe and I wanted some for a little trip at the end of this week. I’ll get by. Picked up some locally made cheeses, some meat, and one vendor gave me a jug of goat’s milk to try with the goat cheese I bought from him.

Think I’ve mentioned before that I’ve started cooking with goat butter a good bit. I love the flavor, the nutrition profile is off the charts, and at lower heats it works as well or better than cow butter. I am cooking my breakfast mini-omelette in it and to say the results are tasty is an understatement.

More church work afterwards, and, of course, I rarely post on Sundays. Yesterday was a busy day of worship, and that evening we had a picnic at the home of our priest and his family that was delightful. Actually got home after my normal bedtime, so was a slug and slept in until 7 this morning.

Posting may be a bit odd this week as there are a few things going on, and I will be going to our Diocesan conference at the end of the week. Our church actually hosted it a few years back, but I spent the entire time in the kitchen helping cook the meals for it. So, this year I actually am going to get to go attend and observe, and learn some different facets of Church life. I’m looking forward to it.

Remember to keep your friends and family close, your clothes where you can find them in the dark, be prepared, and have faith. More soon.

Please check out my Summer Bleg.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. If you would like to help me with seminary courses, pilgrimages, and more, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. Thank you.

Summer Bleg Update II

I posted this on GiveSendGo yesterday and thought I would share it here as well. If you want to know more about some of the challenges, will be glad to share a bit more, just let me know. Meantime, here we go:

First of all, my thanks to all who have donated! Anonymous or open, you are truly helping me to build and start a new life. For all that I have been blessed during and after being hit by lightning, I do seriously discommend being hit.

Right now, my main focus is on covering the cost of seminary classes. I took one this spring just to test how things would go. The cognitive testing I’ve had indicated that I was back to “normal” as in the ability range of an average adult and should be able to take a class. However, the doctor who gave me those tests also talked with me on the QT about one issue being to ensure the conditions to form new memories were there. The first course, which I loved, gave me a chance to try, modify, and verify things that could help ensure that I did form memories and retain the material. Not going to lie, though, it was a challenge.

Now, I need to see how that applies to doing two classes at once, and start looking at how things might go in a typical class. What I’ve done so far is distance learning on an asynchronous basis, meaning I can do parts of the class on my schedule rather than the courses schedule. However, I need eventually to be able to take regular classes and have what I need to do well in them. This is a step towards that.

There are other things going on as well. There are bills, there are some things I would like to do if possible here in the U.S., and ultimately I would like to do a pilgrimage to the Holy Lands and to go back to the monasteries that have invited me to come back for a longer visit. Taking care of all of those would be nice, but the key right now is covering the costs of the seminary classes, which are a major ouch.

Your gifts and prayers have gotten me this far on the road to recovery from being hit by lightning. With your help, and with the help and guidance of the Lord, the right things will happen for us all. Thank you.

So, thought this might help flesh out some of what is going on and why. I am being very deliberate for a number of reasons. Thought I should share a bit of that with you.

Summer Bleg

Summer Bleg Update I

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. If you would like to help me with seminary courses, pilgrimages, and more, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. Thank you.

Summer Bleg Update I

Just a quick update in regards the Summer Bleg. After talking with a guidance counselor yesterday (does that ever make me feel like I’m back in high school) and my priest, I signed up this morning for two classes this fall: Church History I and Patristics.

On the first, I’ve long described myself as a student of history. I was blessed to have a couple of good history teachers over the years, with my ninth-grade history teacher really making it come alive for myself and others. I’ve enjoyed what history I’ve picked up on the early Church and how people lived during that time. My hope is that we can and will get into the weeds a bit without having it become a slog of rote memorization of dates and such. The latter is how so many bad teachers kill any love for history, while the former is what makes history come alive.

On the second, Patristic and Conciliar Dogmatics may well be the key to a number of other courses. It will focus a good bit on the work of Saint John of Damascus, who laid out for the early Church it’s dogma (beliefs). That’s a bit of a simplification, but as I currently understand things his work codified those beliefs so that the Church had both a reference and a guide to share as they spread The Word. It will be interesting to see if that is a correct description or not, but understanding those dogmas will help with many other courses.

Any and all help with doing this and other things with walking a different path in a new life is very much appreciated!

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. If you would like to help me with seminary courses, pilgrimages, and more, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. Thank you.

A Summer Bleg

UPDATES BELOW

I was going to wait a couple of weeks on this, but an anonymous donor has kicked things off with a $1,000.00 donation towards more seminary courses. I’ve talked a little bit about taking more courses, and there are some other things in work as well, so here we go.

The Winter Bleg only raised about a third of it’s goal. I had enough to go on the pilgrimage, but not enough to cover seminary and more. So, there is some debt that I want very much to eliminate.

On top of that, the experiment that was my first seminary course worked out very well. While it was a challenge, I passed and in fact earned a B+ or A- in the course. It was fun, I learned a lot (both about the material and what I need to do to handle taking a course), and verified that I can keep learning — at least through distance learning. For all that the testing said I should be able to do so, real results were needed to verify that being hit by lightning had not taken away my ability to learn. It hasn’t, though it is a challenge to make sure the conditions to form new memories are present.

What I would like to do next is take two courses this fall. If I can handle two courses and do well in them, that increases the possibility that I could pursue full-time study. The more I do, the better for my brain. Right now, however, I need to test, develop the systems that work for me to handle a larger learning load, and hopefully have some fun even as I learn to learn on multiple levels.

This means, however, that I also need to stay undeclared and a part-time student. Which also means no financial aid. The recent $1k donation is a huge step towards that, as I am looking at around $8k in tuition plus the need to pay off around $3k from last semester.

While I am not planning on any long pilgrimages the rest of this year, I am looking at a couple of short ones here in the United States, and would like to do a bit more if I can. I’m not even going to put a dollar figure on it yet, as seminary comes first but it needs to be in the planning.

So, this summer bleg is focused on taking more seminary courses, and paying off debt. If enough comes in to also do a couple of short pilgrimages here in the U.S., great. But, the thing is to get me where I can continue my studies and try to get my brain in shape for possible full-time studies while developing the systems to support such.

Any and all help would be very much appreciated. Your prayers and gifts have gotten me through some very rough times. They have allowed me to work towards figuring out a new life after the lightning strike. Now, I hope to start truly building that new life.

UPDATE I: Things are off to a slow start, but there is movement. I’ve been talking with guidance at the Seminary and have two courses picked out for the fall semester pending some approval and blessings. More details once those approvals and blessings come in. Also, thank you to whomever sent the item off my Amazon wish list. Again, any and all help is appreciated. One course was a challenge, but I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes with two courses.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. If you would like to help me with seminary courses, pilgrimages, and more, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. Thank you.

Changes

When I selected “A New Life” as the title and theme for my recovery from being hit by lightning, as well as my ongoing fundraiser, I had no idea how appropriate it was. My old life ended in a flash of light, and a new one began when I got back up afterwards. There were a lot of changes physically and otherwise.

One I didn’t fully appreciate at the start was that it was also the start of a new spiritual life. In the aftermath, I began searching for a new Roman Catholic church. That search proved disappointing, from a lack of traditional services to having a priest blow off visiting me in the aftermath of surgery with no word or follow-up. This led to my expanding some of the parameters of my search, and having my search and some other events point me to a particular Orthodox church. I went, and have never looked back.

It has been a rather intense journey, and by Orthodox standards it has been extremely rapid. Orthodoxy likes to take it’s time and a measured (and proven) approach to growing in the faith. This does many things, from avoiding burnout to preventing heresy and miscommunications. It also helps ensure that any member, convert or otherwise, takes the time to discern their path and to be sure it is the correct one.

In my case, that discernment has indicated a path towards the altar. While I think I know the destination, it could actually be one of several possibilities. The thing is, the first steps are the same for all of them, and my focus is on taking those steps and proceeding down the path that lies before me. If I don’t start walking, I’m never getting anywhere.

That is going to result in some changes here. There are enough political pundits out there that my small contributions to such are not needed and not likely to be missed in the roar of the crowd. My intent here is going to be to continue to write about preparedness and related issues, travel and food, and on my journey towards a very new and different life. I may offer takes on potential futures if I think it’s about to rain. There will likely still be some snark and puns, as they are too much a part of me to disappear. This is also going to be reflected in my limited presence on other social media.

Not long after I got up again after being hit, the feeling that I was spared to do something grew. I had actually had the feeling for years that I was supposed to be doing something but hadn’t done as much with it as I should have. In private, I’ve joked that the lightning was the equivalent of being hit in the head with a large dead fish both to get my full attention and get me active in figuring out what that “something” was and taking action. And I am doing so as I have no desire to find out what comes after lightning to get my attention and focus.

More than three years ago I began attending that Orthodox Christian church to which several things pointed me. More than two years ago, I was baptized into the Church and began the process of giving myself to God. Now, I am taking the steps to fully give myself and walk the path laid before me. I am human, I am going to make mistakes, and I will always be a sinner. God didn’t send his Son to save the perfect, but the sinners.

My late Godfather, a priest, told me one time that he had thought of putting up a banner on the church saying “Only Sinners Need Apply” to drive home that point. One thing that became clear on my recent pilgrimage is that the idea that I was too much a sinner, and not perfect enough to be more than I am, is not true but a lie in the dark used to encourage people not to try. There is a line from Babylon 5 that resonates with me, and even my priest liked it: ‘Sin lies not in falling down, but in failing to get back up again.’

I’ve been knocked down more than once in my life, and there are some nasty wounds in body, mind, and soul — but an amazing amount of healing has already happened. It’s a reminder that I alone can do nothing; but, with God, I can do anything. I got back up that morning almost exactly five years ago, and it’s time to fully stand up and start walking. No matter your beliefs, I hope you will follow my journey and even walk with me a bit on occasion.

On a practical note, I’m going to have to do a summer bleg here soon as the winter bleg didn’t get a third of the goal, and I want to take two seminary courses this fall if I can. Also, I hope to do some more pilgrimages as I’ve had two monasteries ask me to come back and stay a while to aid healing, learning, and growth and I would love to do that, to visit new places including the Holy Lands, and get to visit again with some of the new friends I made on this trip.

I’m also going to be selling off many of my current possessions, particularly those in storage. Yard sales, online, and anything else needed will be coming up in the next couple of months I hope. Provided my books have survived storage, I am even thinking of selling off my Science Fiction/Fantasy library, a number of which are autographed. There are some books I want to keep, plan on keeping my kitchen gear, and a few sentimental items. Also my tools, especially hand tools as I like to be able to do things even if the power is off. Other than that, going to try to get it gone. Have the feeling I need to lighten and become as agile as possible.

Even with the focus here changing somewhat, I hope that all my regular readers will stick around, and it wouldn’t be bad if a few more joined in. More soon.

If you would like to help me with this trip, seminary courses, and more, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. I’ve added Cash App ($CliffPow7) and Venmo (@Clifford-Powers-5). There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. Getting hit by lightning is not fun! It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

AV Day

Sorry, overslept this morning so running behind. I’m headed down to the church to test my laptop with some of our limited AV equipment. I want to be sure everything works for my presentation on Sunday. My priest wants to find out what is working and get rid of anything not working. Win-Win.

The presentation will be this Sunday following our “coffee” which follows our liturgy. We fast before the service as we partake of the body and blood of Christ (Eucharist) as part of the liturgy. After the service, we then have “coffee” which usually is a meal. People take turns cooking or bringing things in for the coffee and some of our members are really good cooks. The coffee is usually quite good as one of our members has family that runs a coffee roasting business.

If you are in or near Indianapolis you are welcome to come for the presentation. You don’t have to attend the full service, which starts at 0900 (sorta, there are days we operate on Orthodox time, which has been described as mañana without the sense of urgency). We actually have some things going on before the service (usually confession and someone reading/singing), so don’t think you are interrupting or such. You are not. If you are just wanting to see the presentation, show up about 1030 and come on in.

As for where, Joy of All Who Sorrow Bulgarian Orthodox Church is at 16th and Delaware, and the website has more information.

If you’ve never been to an Orthodox service before, let me know you are coming and I will be glad to welcome you and get you paired up with someone who can explain what is going on. Keep in mind that as our guest, short of deliberately trying to disrupt things/commit violence, you can do no wrong. It is a long service, similar in length to the Latin Mass (1.5 hours), but it “moves” pretty quickly.

If you just want to see the presentation, show up about 1015-1030 and the service should be wrapping up. Join us for coffee and once people are fed we will do the presentation. Hope to see you there.

Not Today

Sorry, but the jet lag has hit really hard this trip. Worst it’s been in years. Got almost no sleep last night, so now trying to stay awake all day — no naps — so I can dose up and go to bed early and hopefully finish re-setting the body systems.

There is a lot more to come from the pilgrimage, and I’m also going to review some of the things that really worked in regards travel. I may or may not mention a couple of apps I tried that didn’t work, but really want to focus on the things that did. They are more important and useful for you to know about.

Tomorrow I hope to attend the Men’s Breakfast at Church and make it back for Vespers as well. A lot depends on getting the system reset. If all goes well, will try to start resuming some of my duties at Church on Sunday. That may not happen, but it’s a goal and for me that helps with jet lag.

Got my bike recharged and some other minor chores done. I’m also avoiding a sweet-but-very needy Siamese cat who has decided I am her new favorite human and slave. She’s very (VERY) talkative, and if she hears my voice she immediately starts talking to me. Of course, she also talks to the landlord and anyone else around, which at least for now I find amusing.

More soon!

If you would like to help me with this trip, seminary courses, and more, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. I’ve added Cash App ($CliffPow7) and Venmo (@Clifford-Powers-5). There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. Getting hit by lightning is not fun! It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Working On A Surprise

I’m working on a little surprise, and if all goes well I might not be posting tomorrow (Wednesday). Or, at least not much of a post (if anything goes up it is likely to be short and sweet). Onwards!

If you would like to help me with this trip, seminary courses, and more, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. I’ve added Cash App ($CliffPow7) and Venmo (@Clifford-Powers-5). There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. Getting hit by lightning is not fun! It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Please Stand By

I’ve made my first video in at least a decade (and boy does it show!) if not longer. What is taking even longer right now is uploading it. Two-plus hours and we are not even to twenty percent yet. However, lot of solid info from a very knowledgeable host on Bulgarian wines. I want to be on record that anyone who gets Bulgarian wines based off the Rubin and Marvud varieties into the American market and palette is going to be set for life. Forget increasing output, keep they niche and limited quantity and I think you can get prices in the $30-$50 range per bottle. They are that different and that good. Going to try to get a couple of bottles home to share.