I hesitate to speak or write in absolutes, but after more than eleven years, I think it likely that this will be my last post. I've been thinking about folding the tent for a couple of years now, as my heart really isn't in it anymore and the state of the world grows more depressing by the day. That and I have other interests which are increasingly taking up my time. It seems to me that this is a good stopping point. Ten + years is a good run as blogs go.
In saying au revoir I would like to thank all of my regular and occasional readers. This blog was never anywhere near being in the top tier of the Orthodox/political blogosphere but we had some good conversations. And while I did not always agree with every comment, I rarely found them unreasonable and often walked away more enlightened for them. My intention is to leave the comments open for another couple of weeks after which I will turn the lights off.
Finally, I ask forgiveness for any injury or hurt I may have caused as a result of anything I posted here.
Goodbye and God bless each of you.
Nooooo! I understand stand and fully support but no! I will be disheartened for several weeks, but god grant you many years and I wish you the best!
ReplyDeleteJohn, I'm very sorry to hear that you're closing shop. I've not always agreed with your take on things, but I've always found your site a helpful window into the Orthodox world, a world we Catholics should never overlook.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Godspeed, and let us know if you decide to take up your pen again.
John,
ReplyDeleteThank you for being here all these years. God grant you Many Years.
In Christ,
Sophocles
Thank you for all that you have written here, and for providing this forum.
ReplyDeleteI trust that you will continue to be heard from in other corners of the Internet.
Pooh! I just got here.
ReplyDeleteGodspeed in you new ventures.
Mystagogy wants money to keep his blog going. Now you just want to pick up your marbles and go home.
ReplyDeleteI wish you the best, but I will miss the blog. AO was a near-daily read for me since I became interested in Orthodoxy in 2009.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rick, and have appreciated the variety of posts and links. But I can only imagine the work that goes into keeping the blog going... May the Lord bless you in all your other endeavours unto His glory!
ReplyDeleteThank you for being one of the few blogs I have ever found consistently worth reading. May the Lord our God guide and bless you in your new projects, strengthen you in faith and love, and bring you in good time to his eternal mansions!
ReplyDeleteDom Theodore, Prior
Monastery of Our Lady and Saint Laurence
Antiochian Archdiocese
Catholic here. Been mostly lurking since about 2008 but checking in almost daily. I suspected that you were going to hang it up but prayed that you would not. I will definitely miss reading the conversations and the frequent links to other conversations going on elsewhere. God bless, John.
ReplyDeleteJohn-
ReplyDeleteYet another Catholic here. Thank you for all the time and effort you have poured into your highly edifying and informative blog. My God bless you for your efforts!
Farewell, John!
ReplyDeleteYou are not the only blogger who is "transitioning" lately. John Michael Greer has just hung up his Archdruid Report blog, and started a new one called "Ecosophia."
Greer explained his decision by stating that, after over a decade exploring and expounding upon the Decline and Fall of modern civilization, you ultimately run out of original things to say, and you end up repeating yourself. I suspect you may have found the same thing.
As for the news being depressing, I am with you. I don't comment much on current affairs anymore, either on-line or in person, because I don't think I have anything new to say as to why we are in this mess. Furthermore, I am convinced that there is no longer anything we can do to stop the current round of calamities from happening. We, as a society and a polity, have made too many arrogant, hubristic, self-indulgent and short-sighted choices beginning with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. In the 1980's we collectively declared that "greed is good," and squandered our manufacturing infrastructure, our working classes and our economic base upon a series of financial bubbles and Ponzi schemes. After the fall of the Soviet Union, we squandered any possible "peace dividend" upon pointless and destructive "wars of choice."
Sooner or later, all of these things must be paid for in full, like it or not. We have been in an Age of Consequences ever since 9/11. At this point, there are no more collective answers to our problems, so why continue to comment? (That is why I am basically blasé about Trump). Rather, I think there are only individual and small-community answers. It sounds like you have come to the same conclusion.
God bless and God-speed!
And of course, the day after I announce my retirement the news is absolutely packed with bloggable material. I could have gotten a half dozen posts out of today's news feeder. Sigh...
ReplyDeleteDamn you, damn you to hell if you go through with this.
ReplyDeleteHalf my traffic comes from your site.
ReplyDeleteYou might find Twitter an easier format. I'll be in touch via your contact link. Don't disappear on me bro.
I've really enjoyed your blog. God bless you in your future endeavors.
ReplyDeleteWas it Thanking for Memories in 19th century Russia??? Is Outrage!!!
ReplyDeleteLongtime lurker here who will truly miss your blog. God bless you and grant you many years.
I hope you'll reconsider. This blog is a real service. I rely on it to keep up with many other blogs, and your own content is almost always worthwhile as well. Consider it a ministry--don't abandon it.
ReplyDeletePlease reconsider, I really love your blog, I really love reading it, maybe just take a break, then come back, you sound burned out.
DeleteI also hope you consider leaving the blog up, and not shut down, going back and reading archived material is very edifying for the soul.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that. I started looking into Orthodoxy in 2006 and your blog was one of the first ones I found. I do agree with James and ask that you consider leaving everything up, even if it's defunct. I still go back and read some of the older posts sometimes.
ReplyDelete