Matters of survival…

First, thanks to all of you who have offered prayers for me, and have expressed well wishes either here, via email, or with personal cards or letters. I’m truly grateful.

A number of you have recently contacted me privately asking for the update I promised.

Briefly… I had a CT angiogram just over a week ago, and the results are such that my neurosurgeon cannot say with certainty what kind of aneurysm I have. (For those familiar with brain aneurysms – and I am surprised at how many of you there are – it may be either “saccular” or “fusiform.”)

In order to determine definitively, I am going to undergo an “endovascular cerebral angiogram” next Tuesday (Nov. 15). The neurosurgeon himself will perform the procedure and will fill me in pretty much right away. I should be able to let you know what’s what then.

Secondly, on another perhaps less disturbing matter of survival …

It has been about 15 months since I lost my job and began making a go of this blog as a full time endeavor. Thanks to the generosity of numerous supporters and a few incredibly kind people that I would more properly call benefactors, we’re still going.

I have to admit, however, that things are a bit tough… and some it is my fault.

For one, as credit cards expire and are replaced with new ones, monthly donations are suspended until the cardholder re-enters their donation from scratch. This is inevitable, and I really should follow up personally when that happens, but for good or for bad, I don’t treat this blog like a business. So… if this applies to you and you’d like to resume donations, great!

I’ve also managed, by virtue of my “no holds barred” manner of writing, especially since those condemnable blasphemies and heresies were formally promulgated in Amoris Laetitia, to invite the ire of some erstwhile supporters who consider me a little too sharp when it comes to Francis. (It occurs to me that this may very well be true!)

Don’t get me wrong, new supporters have come on the scene as well (our readership is growing), but it seems pretty clear to me that the audience for watered down, tightrope walking commentary designed to caress readers rather than run the risk alarming them with the truth is far larger than it is for the kinds of posts one finds here.

There is definitely room for improvement in my approach, no doubt, but I’m not going to become one of those writers who calculates the market value of every word. I’d rather starve knowing that I stood up for the Faith.

Lastly, this brain aneurysm nonsense has already caused me to cancel two speaking engagements that were going to take place before the end of the year. While they are fewer and further between than I’d like, I do count on them for income for this effort.

So… I’ll just leave it at this: I need some help keeping things going here. If you get something of value from this blog and haven’t done so already, please know that even the smallest contribution helps and I’d be most sincerely grateful.

Thanks so much for all of your support – reading, donating, praying or all of the above!

The links below will take you to a donation page where you can use either the credit / debit card of your choosing, or PayPal. You need not be a PayPal member: Just look for “No PayPal account?” near the bottom of the page.