Martin Thornton’s English Spirituality proposes that Anglicanism preserves the English ascetic tradition. He argues that the Anglican ethos developed from the medieval villages that formed around monasteries, overwhelmingly Benedictine. Until their Dissolution in 1536, villagers often attended the Hours on their way to and from their fields and workshops. After the Reformation, a sublimated “lay … Continue reading Who we are: The Anglican ethos →

Mass culture Mass culture is the cumulative effect of all media that train their audience to assume that only instant gratification, the self, and the consumption of goods are important, while simultaneously isolating them from the living tradition that could ground them in a meta-narrative. When the state of isolation is total, the results is … Continue reading Mass culture and the Millennials →

As long as mankind has existed, individuals have lived in close proximity to one another. Their shared, organically-derived customs, developed over time, facilitate life in community. They constitute tradition, a language for which the community of practice is the community itself. The many and interconnected precedents set by custom form the living tradition of a … Continue reading Language →

"Remnant communities remember their traditions at least in part, and attempt to resurrect the meta-narrative out of nostalgia. This can never be done completely, but can heal the ruptured meta-narrative enough for its survival." Orthodox bookstores sell monastic literature to spiritual inquirers, hoping that its depth will open their eyes to "Eastern spirituality." The problem … Continue reading Our strengths and our faults →