Let me direct your attention to Fr. Jonathan’s wonderful blog Second Terrace to his post “Localities, part one“. I am looking forward to part two.
Localities, part one
Is it possible to be an agrarian and Orthodox? Is it possible not to be?
The slogan topping off one of my favorite sites, the Front Porch Republic, baldly proclaims “Place, Limits, Liberty.”
“Limits” is not a hard word for Orthodoxy to commend. The liberal political idea is based upon the unfounded certainty that commercial and industrial expansion is limitless. There is a mystical, eschatological belief that human nature has evolved, is evolving, and will continue to evolve into more complex form (and thus of a higher order). The expansion of civilization is a program that becomes the standard upon which all other values are based: local traditions, customs, folkways, family ties, dialects, mom and pop shops, little farms should all be bulldozed by the eminent domain of “progress.”
(For progress is what a liberal believes in, not taking care of the poor: don’t get excited, neocons and Obama-bashers – you don’t believe in conservatism either. You, oddly, are just as progressive……

“There’s more to sports than winning.” “It’s not about winning and losing.” “Winning isn’t the most important thing.”
“Cultural Anthropologists speculate that some ancient nomad stumbled upon a liquid of fermented grains and , intrigued took a sip. The biter-tasting brew was strangly pleasing, and each successive sip induced a sense of warmth, well being, and extreme happiness- even giddiness.
Greek Letters and Orthodoxy:Their Relations During Two Millenia
“The current brouhaha over smoking has made everyone painfully aware of tobacco’s effects on the body, but it has also obscured a more profound reason for smoking’s popularity: its relation to the soul. As the heyday of smoking passes into the ashheap of history, it is meet that we reflect on this connection.