Everybody, I’m sorry I haven’t approved comments till now. I’ve been driving all day from Baton Rouge to Tyler, Texas, where I’ll be speaking tonight about The Benedict Option. Below, I repeat a post from earlier this week with details about the talk. I just approved 156 comments lickety-split, so forgive me if I’ve given thumbs-up to anything offensive. Just let me know and I’ll review.

More late tonight, when I get back to the hotel.

Readers in northeast Texas are invited to hear me talk about the Benedict Option on Friday night (October 26) in Tyler. I’ll be speaking at the Tyler Woman’s Building, 911 S. Broadway, at 7pm.

It’s free and open to the public, but space is limited. RSVP here, and use the keyword BENEDICT.

I’ll be talking about the basic message of The Benedict Option, but adding some new information and analysis since the book came out in 2017. I don’t have any copies of the book to sell, so if you’d like me to sign your copy, please buy it in advance and bring it to the event.

The Tyler newspaper published a piece based on an interview with me. I liked this comment at the end from my host:

“I’ve been writing about Christianity and popular culture for decades now, and I have never been more concerned by reading the signs of the times,” Dreher said. “An old monk in the Italian mountains told me a truth that I took deep in my heart: that Christians who don’t read the signs of the times and come together to live the faith in a more intentional, disciplined way are not going to make it through the trials ahead.”

Seeing a need to start this conversation in Tyler, B3 Ministries, under the direction of Matt Magill, is hosting the event on Oct. 26. Magill was stirred to action after reading “The Benedict Option” because he saw parallels between Dreher’s call to submerge oneself in a Christian community that fosters and grows their faith and the type of community that exists in Tyler. Magill sees that community as a double-edged sword.

“The same reasons that we are so grateful to live in East Texas make us susceptible to a dangerous complacency,” Magill said.

I hope to meet some of you Texas readers on Friday night.