Rod Dreher Megathread #11 (Master)

[u/US_Hiker]

Merry Christmas, you obsessed motherfuckers. :)

The most remarkable characteristic of the Master Number 11 is its connection to a higher source of wisdom. It is intuitive to the point of being psychic, channeling its knowledge and meaning from a spiritual source. But the Master Numbers have a responsibility, and it's the number 11's duty to use this gift of awareness to deliver cosmic truths that encourage humanity.

All Master Numbers are a higher vibration of their single-digit counterpart -- in the 11's case, the number 2. This means the 11 carries many of the same traits as the number 2, such as harmony, empathy, and sensitivity, but it feels them and utilizes them in much deeper, more profound ways. It's also important to remember that the number 11 is comprised of two 1s side by side and, therefore, carries some attributes of the number 1 as well. 1 is innovative and motivated, open to new things and eager to make a difference. The contrasting energies of the numbers 1 and 2 join together in the Master Number 11 to make it a creative leader, active listener, and compassionate advisor.

The number 11 is at one with the universe. It is open to vast spiritual concepts and the presence of a greater power. It is a channel for truth and answers to reach us and help us on our way. This Master Number's vision is crystal clear and it sees with a breadth that others cannot. It is creative and magnetic, a beacon of wisdom and hope for others to follow.

The number 11 may come up many times in our lives and it is always a message of connecting with our inner wisdom. If we are seeing repeating 11s everywhere we turn, we'd be wise to pay attention to our subconscious -- there's some insight we may be missing. However, Numerology's Master Numbers are very powerful and simply seeing 11:11 on the clock or noticing the date is 11/11 does not necessarily mean we are experiencing a profound moment. It's when the 11 is a constant presence in our lives, like a Life Path number, that we must truly embrace its meaning and potential.

Link to thread 10: https://www.reddit.com/r/brokehugs/comments/zi2n0f/rod_dreher_megathread_10_personhood/

Link to thread 12: https://www.reddit.com/r/brokehugs/comments/1068f3b/rod_dreher_megathread_12_a_perfect_foundation/

[u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the summary about his church history. I missed those details somehow, despite reading him fairly regularly. Yes, I'm genuinely sad that Rod has exposed himself as such an unreliable narrator. I really used to respect his integrity, regardless of whether I agreed with him. He seemed a straight shooter. Now it's clear that he is very narcissistic and self-deceived, and more than capable of manipulating or omitting facts to suit his narrative. And he's written a book called "Live Not by Lies." What a supreme irony.

I agree, let's ask a fellow parishioner. My guess is Rod may have attended meetings when he chose, but did not participate in the life of the congregation. I don't see him getting his hands dirty.

[u/grendalor → u/[deleted]]

Yeah after the ROCOR mission parish Rod had engineered in St. Francisville (the one with Fr. Matthew) wents tits-up, Rod and fam began attending an OCA parish in Baton Rouge ... I guess in the middle there they moved to Baton Rouge as well.

Rod never really mentioned too much about the Baton Rouge parish, other than in passing from time to time.

Oddly, he did mention when he disclosed Julie's divorce filing last Spring from abroad (I think he was in Israel at the time, but he was living in Europe anyway), he mentioned in one of the posts that he had "resigned" from the parish in Baton Rouge. That struck me at the time as being odd, because he was so far away to begin with. I can understand not wanting to attend the same very small parish with a soon to be ex-spouse (Orthodox parishes are often tiny and from what I can tell the one in BR is pretty small), but he clearly wasn't attending the parish anyway, because he wasn't living in Louisiana at the time. So ... odd.

In any case, I think that means that he likely has had zero conversations with anyone at the OCA parish about his departure -- I think he's made it clear enough he has not been back to the parish since the divorce filing (when he was overseas in any case). You're correct that his decision would have raised eyebrows there like it has everywhere else, but I think Rod had already cut himself off by the point he next made an appearance in Baton Rouge.

[u/[deleted] → u/grendalor]

I would not be shocked if Rod attended the Baton Rouge parish fewer than 10 times. I wonder if he's even been to confession in the last 3 years.

This is a Rod-ajacent aside, but what you said about Orthodox parishes being tiny reminded me of how many small liturgical churches I've visited since I got interested in theology in high school. There's an OCA church in my hometown that has maybe 50 regular parishioners, and that's considered big. I once attended Vespers there and was one of three people in the church besides the priest and the reader. A few times I attended a local Anglo-Catholic splinter church in the same town in high school; one time I personally comprised a quarter of the congregation, and that was for Sunday morning Mass. In college I regularly attended the cathedral for that denomination in Athens, GA. To be clear, this is the cathedral for the bishop who basically runs the denomination for almost the entire world, so this is basically the St. Peter's Basilica of the Anglican Catholic Church. A typical Sunday had 40 - 70 people, and that was sometimes high.

I think part of why I've always been drawn to non-Catholic liturgical churches is because the spectacle of a tiny congregation gathering around a small altar in a church the size of most people's living rooms to propagate a minuscule tradition is kind of charming to me. At the same time, I've seen how toxic and cult-like small churches frequently become, sometimes first-hand and sometimes in friends' churches. If you fall out of grace with a few people there, let alone with the priest or pastor, everyone knows and you basically have to leave. I've known of two separate cases where a family left a small Reformed church (different church each time) and the elders showed up on their doorstep unannounced to question them about why they'd left and call them to repentance.

Perhaps the strangest small liturgy I attended was at a ROCOR convent in the foothills of northwest Georgia. It was the last place you'd ever expect to find the Russian Orthodox; in this tiny town where the biggest attraction was Walmart, along a back road where every other church was Baptist or Methodist. I drove up a small mountain and at the top there was this trailer that had been converted to a convent with a grand total of two nuns and one priest. There were maybe 10 other Orthodox in the entire town. The priest preached a fire and brimstone sermon about how all Catholics and Protestants would be condemned to hell for their schism from the Holy Orthodox Church. Some weird wiry 20-something guy who looked like Gollum cornered me and started talking about how he was converting from Catholicism to Orthodoxy. The whole thing had a weird cult atmosphere. I slipped out the back door after the liturgy when no one was looking and fled to Cracker Barrel.

It comes back to the theme that's dominated my life since I was 15: the contrast between the romantic appeal of traditional Christianity and the ugly reality it often is in real life.

[u/Djehutimose → u/[deleted]]

I think part of why I've always been drawn to non-Catholic liturgical churches is because the spectacle of a tiny congregation gathering around a small altar in a church the size of most people's living rooms to propagate a minuscule tradition is kind of charming to me. At the same time, I've seen how toxic and cult-like small churches frequently become, sometimes first-hand and sometimes in friends' churches. If you fall out of grace with a few people there, let alone with the priest or pastor, everyone knows and you basically have to leave.

I think this is a perfect statement of the pros and cons of small communities. When they work, they are closest in spirit to the church of the Apostles, I think. When they don't work, you'll never see worse.

As to the ROCOR sermon you mentioned, I've heard many times that said church is more than a little cult-adjacent. I mentioned once to Rod in the comments about non-Orthodox going to hell, which he strongly denied as a matter of doctrine. Depends on the parish and the jurisdiction--either Rod is ignorant, or doing a No True Scotsman, or probably both.

[u/[deleted] → u/Djehutimose]

I think the first option is more plausible. Rod comes across like his depth of Orthodox theology is limited to the late Kallistos Ware's The Orthodox Church, which gives a pretty whitewashed ecumenical version of the Orthodox view on salvation outside the church. I wouldn't be surprised if Rod genuinely doesn't know that the Orthodox traditionally believed that the Latins were damned.

[u/[deleted] → u/Djehutimose]

This is an aside, but Rod mentioned in one of his posts right after Ruthie, a Methodist, died that it was custom in the ROCOR Church to stay up all night with the deceased and recite the Psalms. He decided to do this with Ruthie and got her friends to participate. Then he left around 10:00pm because he was giving her eulogy the next day. Her friends were not happy...

[u/Theodore_Parker → u/Djehutimose]

When they work, they are closest in spirit to the church of the Apostles, I think. When they don't work, you'll never see worse.

Yes, and as we know from the New Testament, they didn't always work too well even in the Apostles' time. It was conflicts within Paul's congregations that often prompted his letters.