Beloved Masters, Fathers, Mothers, Brothers, Sisters, and Friends in Christ our Saviour:
Starting today I need to devote the next six weeks to nonstop reading for my doctoral exams, the penultimate step before I dive into writing my dissertation.
There are three exams: the specialist exam on August 3, on the topic of my dissertation (Father Pavel Florensky’s “Friendship” as his intentional theology of same-sex love); the cognate (“related”) exam on August 17, on modern Orthodox theology from the late 19th century to the present; and the oral exam on August 31, a kind of oral defense of the two written exams.
For each written exam I have 24 hours (at home) to answer three essay questions for the specialist and two questions for the cognate. I’m expected to type about seven pages in response to each question—which is harder than you might think in that time span when you need to make every word count and not natter on to fill pages.
This means that Orthodoxy in Dialogue will go mostly (but not entirely) silent until mid-August. Keep reading us, and keep sharing your favourite articles with your friends!
At the end of each day I’ll check emails. Anyone needing spiritual support in writing or by video chat can continue to reach out to me. Only I have access to editors@orthodoxyindialogue.com.
You may also continue to submit articles and letters to the editors for consideration. Please be patient with me, as I won’t respond to them as quickly as I normally do.
Pray for me as I do unworthily for you. Forgive me if I have hurt or offended you.
See you on the other side of these exams!
Your unworthy fellow servant of Christ and of His Most-Pure Mother,
Giacomo
P.S. Don’t forget our homeless friends in Toronto and our adopted priest and his family and parish in Uganda. Using our email address you can send your gifts via PayPal for either purpose. Indicate the intended recipients of your donation in a brief message.
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