Update on the site

Most of you are probably checking in by now to see what’s going on with the site, so here’s the deal.

As you know, it’s been down since about 4pm yesterday. After waiting for hours on hold with front line support monkeys giving me a complete run around I decided just to contact the corporate offices to get this done quick and right. I filed a complaint with the BBB already, and it seems like a lot of other people have already too. The CEO supposedly made a chuckle-head move and downgraded their servers from 100 gigs down to 4. Why? Who knows. Don’t really care. I just had to get out of there quick… it’s going to be about 2 billing cycles before I even see the money back on my card, too. Don’t ever sign up with iPower. You’ll walk out of it with a big headache. Ask these guys, who are helping hundreds if not thousands of people migrate away from iPower’s servers and terrible service. HostJury will definitely be getting some traffic from me before I ever decide to make another decision with servers and hosting. They did point me towards HostGator though, and it’s already registered, now comes the process of migrating everything over from iPower’s crappy software to the new provider…

Also I didn’t need the frustration of going through trying to keep my domain name, it’s cheaper to register a new one than redirect the old one, so expect to see former Dust and Ashes over at desertwisdom.com Desert Wisdom. I think I like that more anyway. Gives it a more monastic, ‘Death to the World’ feel.

Give it a couple days and you’ll see everything back up, and we’ll never have to worry about terrible service providers again.

And honestly guys? Contributions are welcome. I’ve already put out upwards of $100 into it and I have to put more into the new server to get it up and going. Contact me on IM, on the site, or elsewhere if have the info. Of course you can also email me.

Thanks for checking in!

It’s up!

Dust and Ashes.net is up and running. We’re still getting everything set up and moved in, but it’s operational. I’ve got a to-do list posted on the page for me to tackle as it goes by, but as far as having a running database and operational message board goes it’s finally there. Head on over to Dust and Ashes now to get a look, and register! I’d love to be able to talk with you guys there if you’d so like.

Dust and Ashes is a message board/community for Orthodox Christians, Catechumens, and inquirers. We have forums to fit every poster’s needs, and if we don’t, tell us and we’ll see about getting it put up for you. For my tech readers it’s hosted by iPower and running on the vBulletin message board system. If you’ve never posted on a message board before, here is a great link to explain things a little more.

I hope to have a website implemented to go along with the message board too, where I’ll provide links to other sites, add some affiliates, host sites of the month, things of that nature. You would be able to purchase some advertising space and get your site featured on Dust and Ashes to increase your traffic, whether it’s a blog, message board, or Orthodox website. I’ll be featuring an online webstore too, based on Cafepress, to get a little merchandise up for those who would be interested.

Dust and Ashes is still a grassroots effort. We’re getting advertised based on links and word of mouth from people who are interested in helping. If you would like to link Dust and Ashes from your site or blog, I would highly appreciate anything you could do to help. Reply here, or email me at webmaster@dustandashes.net for more info on that.

Feedback and suggestions are most welcome. I look forward to seeing you guys on the new message board.

Dust and Ashes — the site.

I’ve taken the plunge.

I’ve had a few sites in the past that I ran, though nothing too too serious. Tonight I decided that I’m going to be purchasing a .com, along with a nice program to generate some traffic by adding the site to about 200 search engines. Of course it will remain a grass roots effort much like Orthopraxis has, getting the word out through friends, advertisements, and other such methods. I’ll be checking in with Death to the World too, to see if they’d like to help advertise, along with AFR, etc etc.

Expect to see dustandashes.net up and running soon! I would also love if any of you would like to shamelessly plug the new forum on your blogs once in awhile too, considering it meets your standards and you’d like to become a member. Keep an eye out, I’ll let you know as soon as it becomes available.

For you techies, I’ll be running it on vBulletin, and I’m more than up for suggestions and help if you’ve got experience.

Pray for me a sinner,

Blake/Isaac

St. Macarius on Prayer

“Use the empty, cold dryness of your prayer as food for your humility. Repeat constantly: I am not worthy, Lord, I am not worthy! But say it calmly, without agitation. This humble prayer will be acceptable to God.” – St. Macarius of Optina

Absence.

Allow me to begin with the thing of most importance, the realization that we are within the renewed sanctification and blessing of the Jordan, the Forerunner has preached repentance, and One has come to baptize with fire… Christ is baptized! Or as the Slavs say, God is manifested!

Allow me to catch you up on some things.

I had a pretty frightening experience a few weeks ago, which has had it’s ups and downs since then. Considering my family has a history of bleeding ulcers and polyps I’m not sure exactly what’s going on, but I’ve definitely got something going on like that. I noticed one day that I had some blood in my stool, some days were better than others, but it was enough for me to go to the doctor and get checked out. After checking a few things[and finding out my cholesterol and glucose is good plus I had lost some weight so at least that much is good] they couldn’t figure it out for sure, so in a couple of months I have an appointment with a specialist…

Good news about that is, it’s not dangerous enough for me to need to see a specialist as soon as possible. Bad news is, the doctor mentioned a colonoscopy, and let’s just say I’m not too thrilled about that. I’ve asked for humility, but this isn’t exactly what I had in mind. For those who don’t know, let’s just say it involves an enema, a tube, and a flexible light while being so doped up you don’t know what world you’re in.

I’m hoping and praying it just clears up on it’s own… the last few days have been perfectly fine, but the stomach pain is still there.  Pray for me, if you will.

What else…

Well, I found myself back in Church on the Eve of Theophany. It was wonderful catching up with everyone. I ran into my friend Virginia Chryssikos, a lovely English professor at the local College, and let her know that over my little period of absence I had read “A Night in the Desert of the Holy Mountain” which she had helped edit and revise. Please, if you ever read another book, read that one. I can’t explain how amazing it is. The next day of course was Theophany, which is absolutely one of my favorite Great Feasts. I got to catch up with Igor and Giorgi, two of my favorite parishioners who moved here from Ukraine not too long ago. My parish is pretty diverse, we’ve got a Lebanese family, some Greeks, some Russians, and some Ukrainians.

I caught up with my Godfather Subdeacon James, which was awesome too. He was happy to see me but scolded me a little, as a good Godfather should, that I need to “jump back on the saddle” and come back to Church.  Father was much the same, though a little more ‘real’… good word for Father Mark. “Real.”

He told me that I can’t call myself a catechumen if I don’t fast and pray with the Church. He told me that there are no plans for my Baptism at this point, and there won’t be at least until next Pascha, and that’s if I show my initiative and come back as I should. It’s very humbling, and was a little hurtful, but a kick in the pants goes a lot further than a pat on the back and I very much respect him for being honest and direct with me. He did reassure me however, telling me not to worry for the past or even for the future, only worry about being here, and making an effort. He told me, as the Fathers say, give blood to achieve the Spirit… without giving until it hurts you will not acquire anything salvific.

So, I’ve gotten back into my prayer rule, and I’m going to be immersing myself into the Lives of the Saints and other good spiritual reading. My job is going well, a good deal stressful sometimes but, that’s life.

If there is anything I have learned over my period of absence both from here and from the Church, it’s been this: Without grace, without Him, I am a desperate and wicked sinner with no good in me. I love myself more than God, I love myself more than my neighbor, I am an idolater. The catechumenate, I was told, is a battle… and I understand why during those prayers I was regarded as a newly-enlisted soldier of Christ. I took it lightly, I admit that; I tried to follow a schedule, follow things logically, follow things simply, and regard the catechumenate as one small step towards baptism… but it’s definitely much more. It truly is a struggle, and it truly is a battle. When I took that step, I came into His grace, but as St Isaac said… the closer we draw near to the Kingdom this will be our sign: the more temptations that multiply against us.

Please remember me in your holy prayers.