🦁 Advent 3-5
Reflection
Good morning, and welcome to I'm gonna say Advent 3, the fifth day of Advent 3. I'm saying that differently because I've reordered how I'm naming the episodes of First Formation, and part of that is because I am building a kind of a database or a record of my reflections, and their transcripts and tags and blah blah blah, that I'll make available later to anyone who who wants it but also because I think it's really important to continue to interpret the Bible with a martial hermeneutic.
And so compiling these makes them accessible long term. And I also want to take the liturgical seasons you know, kind of at their own face value and liturgical weeks begin. The Sundays are the crown of the liturgical week, which puts them in the middle. And that makes Wednesdays. the last day of the week, the liturgical week, and Thursday is the first day of the liturgical week.
So I've ordered them by weeks of Advent, in Advent, and then the day within Advent that they can be found. The first three days of a liturgical week look toward the Sunday. Thursday, Friday, Saturday. And then after Sunday Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or 5, 6, and 7 the 7th days of the week, look back.
So I'm reordering that to be more closely relatable to the liturgical week. And I'm going into this detail not only because I just changed it, but I mean, Ephesians 6. Come on. Like, you can't get more, like, central to my thing than the armor of God in Ephesians 6. If you want to learn more, I will put A link to the training room entry on it on in the show notes.
There's a lot more I could say, should I could probably write at least a pamphlet, maybe a book on the armor of God. Today I wanted to briefly, talk about what's going on outside first formation because like armor of God, man, I've, I've got it all. Just go read it. It's incredible. It's interesting.
It's complicated. I didn't say it earlier, but the readings today are from Psalm 125, first Kings 18 and Ephesians six. Today is also the day I'm kind of. publicly sharing some a big announcement that I've been kind of sitting on for a little while, which is that I am very likely going to be opening a bookstore, a veteran operated bookstore and community space in Lebanon, Oregon.
In the show notes, I'll also put a link to the GoFundMe page where if you want to support veteran small businesses, specifically those that deal with faith and spirituality, spirituality, theology, you can do that. But that's also going to be a big focus of mine. So a lot of these first formations are going to have to be pre recorded.
I've got a novitiate in a novice in the hospitalers who's going to help me with that and also will be recording some of the readings and may offer reflections on one of the days of the week. So I'm really excited. Things are growing. And things are, are happening that I've been waiting on for a long time.
A little bit about this bookstore. I'm calling it the chapter house or the full name, St. Martin's chapter house. anD it's going to specialize in religion politics, but also focus heavily on history and philosophy. I will be selling both new and used books based on their condition. And I'm also gonna have a conference room that I call the cloak room where we can hold very small, personal.
Kind of events, workshops, Bible studies clinics for people who need them. Because right up the street of, from the property that I'm looking at, there is a St. Martin's Episcopal church in Lebanon that has a really active ministry to the poor. And especially those who are unsheltered and who are struggling with addiction.
And I, I love the church. If I lived closer, I'd probably go there regularly. But I took it as kind of a God thing that I tried our own hometown of Albany. I tried Corvallis with the, the college out there and the high foot traffic it would have. And nothing worked until this property manager in Lebanon just was really flexible, worked with me on what I was capable of and what I could do.
And you know, kind of waited patiently while I worked on the business plan and the financial projections with the American Booksellers Association book training group. Like, I'm really excited. I'm recording these the evening before and I'm, my voice is probably scratching because I've been talking for a while with family, but I, as I mentioned, I'm going public with this GoFundMe and also just kind of being open about what's going on because all that's left now is fundraising.
I'm going to be approaching lenders. I don't want to kind of ad hoc this. I don't want to rely on my own. Very paltry talents, you know, with woodworking or maintenance or like, no, I'm going to get real contractors to do it. I'm going to, you know, take out business loans and accept money from friends and family and anybody who's willing on go fund me because I want to do it right.
I think quality products belong in the hands of everybody, even those that. And so St. Martin's Chapter House is going to very much reflect my own values, as well as the values of, how I understand my patron, St. Martin of Tours, as well as the saint of the order of, that I belong to, or the community that I belong to, the Hospitality of St.
Martin. I'll get more into that in other places. I could probably drag on for an entire hour just on Ephesians 6. And so it felt apropos that the day that I'm going public with my GoFundMe for the chapter house is also this day where like, I, I should probably just avoid talking about it because there's just so much there.
But if you do want to know more. Follow the link in the show notes to Armor of God, but if you're so willing and able I hope you'll follow the link in the show notes to my GoFundMe page where you can learn more about the bookstore where I'll be Posting updates as frequently as is feasible for me, but this is real.
It's gonna happen and It's gonna be another kind of balancing act between First Formation, which I'm really and feel empowered by and just love doing. And the responsibilities of starting a new business and training up employees and hopefully a general manager so I don't have to do as much of the day to day stuff and I continue to create content that I'm passionate about while also managing a business that supports and empowers military families as well.
So I hope you'll check it out. I appreciate listeners both new and long term. And if you want to dig more deeply into this kind of content I hope you'll consider subscribing to First Forward, which is advanced insight into the scriptures. For or through the lens of military families. I call it enlisted exegesis.
So subscribe to first forward for just 5 a month until Christmas. After that, it's going to go back up to its normal price. But if you subscribe before Christmas, you'll get to save about 40 percent off of the subscription charge. But you'll get my Sunday readings reflections a week in advance.
So if you're a subscriber, you'll see that I've already posted the reading reflection for Sunday the 24th for Christmas Eve. And then on the day that that Sunday arrives, that episode goes live and I also archive it on my own website, which I'm working on and I'll announce later. But it's a great way to do your own sermon prep if you're a preacher, pastor, minister.
But also if you're just a grunt yourself and you want to hold those same people accountable to a martial hermeneutic, to an interpretation of scripture and theology and doctrine. That doesn't shit on the lives of soldiers and veterans and military families. Then I hope you'll subscribe. It's real cheap.
It's like the cost of one latte for an entire month of ship Sundays. So four Sundays. But I'm really excited about it and I hope you'll join me in, in that endeavor with first forward, but also check out the go fund me where I'll be posting updates about the chapter house, how it's coming videos, pictures, stuff like that.
And I may mention it here and there. On First Formation, but mostly on GoFundMe until kind of everything has stood up. So I appreciate your patience this morning, listening to me drone on about my dreams. But I know a lot of people are also passionate for the same thing, and I have been waiting for this, and I'm, I'm really glad for their support.
You'll You'll even find that a bunch of people have already supported because, you know, word gets around. So, if it's something you enjoy but can't afford, I hope you'll talk about it on social media Chapter House or PPHQ, and I'll see you, I'll see you around. You'll, you'll still hear from me, First Formation, First Forward.
You'll begin also hearing some more additional voices, I think. But I'm just super excited about opening up a bookshop and the way things have come together. I'm confident not only that it'll come to be, but that it's going to be something amazing for, not just the local community, but the military community the American military community at least.
Wherever they serve and in whatever capacity regardless of branch rank or specialty So yeah, I appreciate listeners. I appreciate subscribers as well donors And everybody who can't who just kind of likes to listen from afar and be fed, you know every so often but You know, your involvement might be low.
I, I really appreciate those who kind of tolerate my little skewed view of things and I'm looking forward to this, this next new thing that's going to be a reflection of, of my passion, but also I think the input of community of people who have really kind of helped support this and, and made sure I didn't look another way before getting to where I am now.
