In This Edition
The Editor’s Desk
New Year, New Dispatch - This was my inaugural address of 2023, after some time away at the end of 2022. A lot has changed so I am very appreciative that all of you have stuck with me!
100 Subscriber Special - Thanks to the collaboration with Missio Dei (more on that below), we had an influx of new subscribers and pushed the Peasant Times-Dispatch over the 100 mark! Thank you, everyone! It is truly an honor to write for you and I hope you all continue to enjoy my writing. God bless you!
The Peasant Times-Dispatch
Why This Podcast Isn’t Telepathic - Why did God make us so that we had to talk to each other? So much misunderstanding comes from imperfect communication. But our minds and our meaning—though hidden behind our mortal veil—hint at some beautiful ways that God shows His love for us. You can find all that and more in this edition of the Peasant Podcast.
Open Thread: Important Conversations - The most important conversation in human history happened at the Annunciation, where an Angel talked to Mary about God’s plan for Salvation. After a few clarifying questions, Mary gives her “fiat” that echoes through all time. I then invited you to reflet—what are your most important conversations?
Peasant Library
Who Is Right? - A collaboration with Missio Dei, I tell the story of my experience with Anglicanism and my conversion to Catholicism.
Gibberish
My Substack where I write fiction is live and thriving! I’ve been posting writing exercises every week on
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Nothing Will Ever Be The Same
I asked you in the Open Thread to reflect on the most important conversations in your lives. I hope you took advantage of the opportunity to reflect and I hope it is bearing some good fruit for you!
For me, when I think about important conversations, my focus is on the important part of the phrase. How do I tell an important conversation from a trivial or “normal” conversation? An important event is an event which changes things. An important event in British History is the American Revolution—the point at which their colonial efforts in the New World were forever altered. An important event in a persons life is an event that impacted them and changed them. So an important conversation is the same thing—it’s a conversation that changed everything between the beginning and the end of that conversation.
The most important conversation in my life happened in 2016. I may have mentioned this to you, but in my day job I am an accountant. Early in my career, I really struggled to find a job that fit me well. I worked in public accounting as an auditor—I enjoyed aspects of that, but the work was a slog. 16 hour days, long commutes, working every day with the same team of 6 people, being the lowest man on the totem pole. I grew a lot, but it was hard. I knew it wasn’t for me, it wasn’t the kind of life I wanted to live. So after a year, I jumped over to a Tax accounting firm. Tax season was brutal—I sacrificed my health and my sleep to be mediocre at a job that gave me no support. I remember arriving at 5am one day, leaving work at 7pm because I am burnt out and just not getting quality work done for the time I’m spending, and one of my colleagues saying “I’ll be thinking of you when I’m here at 9pm!” That life was toxic—it’s not for me. After a year or so of that, I jumped to another firm—a real estate start up, developing luxury apartments. I moved to a new town to get the job, it was new, it was exciting. But the job was not how it was advertised. I thought I was going to be doing accounting, and I was—but I was also paying bills and vendors; I was also, to my surprise, given the honorary role of Executive Assistant. I was the gofer—I got my boss’s coffee, I sold my boss’s bike, I drove my boss’s nanny 4 hours to drop her off at their vacation home to help them care for their child.
It was an overwhelming job, and it was not what I thought I would be doing. After being repeatedly criticized for not effectively doing the accounting work—the core thing I thought I was supposed to be doing—I was increasingly depressed and despairing. I didn’t know how to make my employer happy. I was doing everything I could, but no individual thing well.
There was one day that the camels back finally broke. Another tough day, another strong rebuke from my boss. I was sitting in the office at 7pm again, trying to figure out what to do and how to keep organized and suddenly I just thought—It’s not worth it. I am not happy. I can’t figure this job out, I can’t figure these people out, I don’t feel appreciated or compensated or respected.
Now—whether I was justified in these feelings or not, I won’t opine. I know this is a bad attitude. I wouldn’t recommend this course of action to other people. But this is where I had my most important conversation: I called my Mom.
I told her I wanted to quit, that if I walked out of this place I couldn’t come back. My Mom was understanding—she didn’t want to tell me “Yeah, go ahead and quit” but she also didn’t tell me “No, don’t do that, that’s a bad decision.” At the end of the call, I felt more firm in my resolve, and I wrote a resignation letter, taped my key to the office to it, and taped the letter to the wall. I changed my passwords to something generic and left it on a post it note. I gathered my things, and I walked out.
I immediately felt relief, which I interpreted as my conscience telling me I was doing the right thing. I had other challenges ahead, but at least this decision had been made. I had two months left on my lease, so I had to act quickly. One month came and went with no progress. I was having trouble getting in touch with recruiters. My finances were increasingly in bad shape. It was near the middle of the second month that I became desperate. I really got down on my knees and prayed like I had never prayed before. I told God that if He helped me I would give Him what I knew I owed him in terms of worship. Within 15 minutes, I received a call from a recruiter about job opportunities. Within a week, I had interviews. Within two weeks, I had been accepted. Another two weeks after that, I had a new apartment and I was starting my new job. God came through in a HUGE way, and changed my life for the better. I resolved to uphold my end of the bargain, and I found a Catholic community and started the process of becoming Catholic.
So that conversation was the most important conversation for me. My Mom could have said, “No, you shouldn’t quit, that’s a bad decision”—it WAS a bad decision, and if she had said that I don’t know where I would be. A worse place, for sure. But my Mom helped me feel better, helped me feel like I was allowed to make that decision, and I made it, and nothing was ever the same.
Discourses: Catechesis
I’ve started a series where I will be creating a Catechesis curriculum. It’s a pet project of mine, and I feel like it is important to having a Peasant’s Faith—we have to understand the basics. I will not be pushing notifications for this series, you can find them in each monthly Edition—be sure to check in every month! If you do want notifications, consider letting me know or perhaps signing up for a paid subscription? I would be happy to make early notification for each lesson a perk. Check out the first lesson of Catechesis below!
Thank You
Thank you, as always, for reading with me. 2023 is a big year and I am overjoyed to have gotten off to a great start and to bring you this full edition of the Peasant Times-Dispatch.
Thank you, and God bless you all!
Ad Jesum Per Mariam
Great work, Scoot. May the wind of Genesis fill your sails!
Love that conversation story, Scoot! Other people are so important in helping us navigate our journey. Remarkable.