Perpend (David), who I started the podcast with, became an Orthodox monk and is now a Novice Monk at the Monastery of St. John in CA.
As he was travelling from monastery to monastery throughout America, he occasionally was back in Kansas (the last time in September 2023). He would greet me, and others, with a greeting that he likely learned in his travels: Instead of saying, “Hi, how are you?”, he would say, “How goes the struggle?”
Instead of giving the usual response of “I am fine”, you would think about it for a moment. This led to a more real and heartfelt conversation.
The Struggle is Real
In Orthodox Christianity there is a prayer: “Help the Orthodox Christians to struggle”.
Not “Help us get through the struggle”. Not “Help us not to struggle”.
If you are saying to yourself, “That’s un-American!”, then you have lost touch with your history and tradition.
I could go on for paragraphs here about how we have lost this touchstone of our human existence.
We knew this just 100 years ago. The janitor knew that he was janitor and measured where he was in the world. He would hope and prepare his children to have a life better than his, but he knew where he was. In modern days, through credit the janitor thinks he can drive that fancy car.
I know. I was a janitor’s (well, “groundkeeper’s”) kid.
I visited the Kansas State Capitol building at lunch the other day. The motifs and murals are all about Manifest Destiny. They proclaim that we will somehow expand and conquer the land.
Even the Wokes inherently know that when they call for struggle. “The struggle is real.” But they are struggling for Utopia that will never come.
Likewise, too many people today are looking for Utopia.
Listen on your fave Podcast app:
The Hero’s Journey
We watch TV or a movie and cheer when the hero goes through trials and comes out the victor at the end. We respond to these because these Hero’s Journey stories are in our DNA.
But now we watch the Hero’s Journey story and do not want to experience trials and struggles ourselves.
People watch TV and movies with the Hero’s Journey and then grumble, complain, and take meds when they are called to the Hero’s Journey.
We need to struggle. We need the Hero’s Journey.
In the Midst of Great Lent
I am writing this in Week 4 of Great Lent. Just passed the midpoint between the start of Lent and Pascha/Easter, which this year is on April 20.
Lent for the Orthodox is 40 days of fasting, plus Holy Week. The fast is much more than other Christian traditions: Abstain from meat, fish, dairy, eggs, and (most of the time) wine and rich oils like olive oil. That’s every day, not just fasting on Friday. (Sorry, no Friday Fish Frys).
The purpose of Lent is to examine yourself, through prayer and counsel – in ways that are not possible if you are well fed.
Proverbs 30: 8-9:
Give me neither poverty nor riches—
Feed me with the food allotted to me;
Lest I be full and deny You,
And say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or lest I be poor and steal,
And profane the name of my God.
The Lord’s Prayer says: “Give us our daily bread”. Not “bless us at the all-you-can-eat buffet”.
Embrace the Weeks of Want
There is a seasonality to it as well. These were known as the “Weeks of Want” – the historical time at the end of Winter, where your stored food ran low, you could only do minimal foraging in the woods, and the new crops have not come in yet.
Maybe we will get back to living locally. Localism, or as Andy Hickman says, “Yokelism”.
What Does This Have to Do With Thriving?
You may be saying to yourself: “This doesn’t sound like Thriving.”
I disagree. Thriving is designing your intentional life. That includes celebrating the good times, but also preparing for upset, for down times, and to help others as they go through their own struggles and tough times.
That is the Human Equation.
WAY back in Episode 13 – So You Want a Parallel Economy? – Solzhenitsyn and Havel, we talked about Vaclav Havel’s solution to totalitarianism. In the waning days of the Soviet Communist empire, Vaclav encouraged citizens in Czechoslovakia to get together for community – picnics, art. Rediscover community. This overcomes isolationism, which is something that we struggle with: We are more connected (electronically) that ever yet are completely alone.
Try it – “How Goes the Struggle?”
“How goes the Struggle?” Try this greeting out with your friends and at church gatherings. It will cut through the cheery veneer and lead to some interesting conversations… or it will make people really upset.
At least you will be having crucial conversations instead of mundane empty ones.
Thriving Food Forest Design: Let us create an edible foodscape, perennial paradise for you so you can grow more food and be more self sufficient. Schedule a free consult session with me at:
Buy my chestnuts, hazelnuts, elderberry, and comfrey that are adapted to the Midwest.
GrowNutTrees.com
Raised beds that I am building to test Perennial Kitchen Garden layouts:
Vego Garden Modular Metal Raised Bed (which I will make 5′ x 3.5′, 17″ tall).
I use this for a perennial kitchen garden – growing herbs to use daily in the kitchen. Just come along and pick what you need for tonight’s dinner.
Meadow Creature Broadfork is my favorite tool for starting new garden beds. I turn over the sod, add a layer of compost, then Milpa, and cover with woodchips.
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