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Another vanity project launches...

So, I have a Substack.  Now what?

I imagine I’m not the first to ponder that question.  There are many, I’m sure, who go into this with a well-thought-out business plan and a sheaf of article drafts ready to go up on the site, who already know what the heck they’re doing.  Then there are the remainder who, like me, have no business plan (other than “Hey, who knows?”), have only a vague idea of what to write, and really have no clue what the heck they’re doing.  My intention, nevertheless, is to write about my faith.

Wait… Don’t go yet!

I know, I know.  The last thing anyone needs is yet another oh-so-Christian fool blathering on about how wonderful it is to have a personal relationship with Jesus.  It is wonderful, but that’s not the point.  What I hope to give you, instead, is a dive into what daily scripture contemplation looks like for a religious.

I hear somebody in the back calling out, “A religious what?  A noun, Bill, we need a noun!”

Although autocorrect keeps highlighting “religious” whenever I use it as a noun, it can be used as such:  it means a person who has taken up an avowed religious vocation, specifically in the context of a religious order.  The most well-known examples of religious are monks and nuns, but there are many other expressions of religious life.

I am one such religious, a brother of the Franciscan Community of Compassion, which is an ecumenical third order regular based in the Episcopal Church diocese of Long Island.  The FCC is a disbursed community, meaning we do not live communally in a monastery-like environment, but rather live in our own homes, working our normal jobs be they religious or secular.  We welcome both men and women, married or single; some are priests and deacons, while others are laity.

Prayer, done either communally or individually, is an important part of my life.  Although the FCC is disbursed, I meet with my brothers and sisters several times a week online or in person for Evening Prayer, and we come together at least once a year for a group retreat.  On my own, I pray the Daily Office as expressed in the Book of Common Prayer whenever possible, and I carry with me a form of rosary for spontaneous contemplation and prayer.  And, of course, I try my best to live by Brother Francis’ admonition:  Preach the Gospel always; if necessary, use words.

My future articles for Brother Bill’s Substack will be centered on the Daily Office’s two-year cycle of scripture readings.  I won’t be posting every day.  Believe it or not, even the most religious of religious (see what I did there? Eh? Eh?) isn’t immediately lifted into rapturous creativity by every line of scripture.  Sometimes a passage calls for me to sit with it for a while; other times, I don’t have anything new or pithy to say.  These aren’t meant to be sermons—I’m not a priest nor have I any formal theological training—but are rather my own thoughts on and interpretations of what I read.  Your mileage may vary.  In fact, I hope your mileage does vary, because I would love to hear your own thoughts, both on the scripture passages I write about and on what I’ve written.  My only ask is that we keep things polite and civil—if you are a scriptural literalist for whom any other interpretation is anathema, or if you are a dogmatic [insert denomination] who is intolerant of any other denomination, I would gently suggest this Substack may not be ideal for you.  This is to be a burning-at-the-stake-free zone.

And so, off we go.  God bless you, dear readers, and I look forward to sharing my faith with you.