James Albert

Just published! 🤍 How our digital obsession with disembodied knowledge is creating a spiritual crisis. The ancient heresy never died, it just got smartphones and an algorithm.

🔗 below to read the full piece for free on Substack.

Finding our true selves happens in connection with others, not in isolation.

True freedom isn’t found in independence but in our capacity to give ourselves freely to others.

Our truest nature emerges not through self-assertion but through self-emptying love.

I've been wrestling with how we've embraced a kind of "functional solipsism" in Western culture. Our phones create personalized realities, our spirituality became consumer-driven, and even our cities are now designed for individuals rather than communities.

The result? An epidemic of isolation disguised as freedom and self-determination.

Drawing from Orthodox Christian wisdom, true personhood might be found not in radical autonomy but in communion with others. As I write in the piece: "The death of solipsism marks the birth of authentic personhood."

🔗 to the article below, and I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Perhaps the greatest shift in perspective we can make: moving from seeing the world as a series of external challenges to overcome, to seeing it as internal relationships to nurture. A reminder that behind every external issue are human hearts to be loved.

When we surrender our need to control and instead participate in life’s unfolding mystery, we discover divine presence in each moment.

A reminder we all need sometimes. Human worth isn't something we have to prove or achieve; it's inherent in all of us from the beginning.

"Where Western thought sees problems to be solved, God sees persons to be loved."

My latest post is free to read on Substack (🔗 below). Your subscription supports my writing and my ongoing work about reclaiming life in a fragmented world. Here’s an excerpt:

“Westernism is not only a geopolitical construct or a set of cultural practices, but also an attempt at a comprehensive worldview that has systematically dismantled the sacred, replacing divine mystery with a cold calculus of rational reductionism. At its core, Westernism represents a profound spiritual departure in the form of a radical severance from the holistic (body, soul, and spirit) understanding of human existence that has characterized traditional civilizations for millennia.”

Embracing our humanity isn't about being perfect, it's about being in communion. We're not data points to be optimized, but storytellers with rich, complex experiences.

“Technocracy, with its unwavering faith in expertise, data, and algorithmic decision-making, has emerged as a modern religion.

It promises a world where human problems can be solved through technical mastery, where society can be optimized like code, where the messiness of existence can be tamed by spreadsheets and statistical models.

But does its cold adherence to optimization and efficiency obscure deeper, more transcendent truths about what it means to be human?”

Read the full article below! 🤍