The spiritual life is, first of all, a life, wrote Thomas Merton. It is not something to be known and studied; it is to be lived. Life, after all, grows sick and dies when it is uprooted from its proper element. We see this all around us every day.

You don’t need to be a saint to be spiritual; thank God, you need to be a human being.

The blog is the gateway to my spiritual life, the root of my creativity, the engine of the Army Of Good, and all of the wonderful good that we have done together.

For all of my flaws and struggles, I seek a spiritual life every day in one way or another. I edge closer all the time, but I can’t say I will ever fully get there.

We live a spiritual life when we live as men and women seeking our own ideas of God.

I am wary of asking for blog support; I always think of many small acts of kindness waiting out there for us to do. There is so much need and struggle.

But the blog is also a real-life thing, expensive and hungry. I can’t really maintain it and all the work we do without your support and help. I am now working full-time on the blog, no more royalties and advances; I’ve left this world behind and am not going back.

I ask nothing more than to be paid for my work.

I work hard on this blog; I write about it every day, several times a day at least. My writing on the Amish has been a gift from the heavens; it is also hard and challenging. So is my work with the elderly and the refugees.

My photography costs money, so do my Internet and web hosting costs. I’m paying now to have the blog delivered more efficiently and completely; it costs a lot of money.

Then there is the farm and the animals. We run a tight ship here, but it’s time to ask once more if I can be paid for the work I do if you find it valuable, thought-provoking, or otherwise useful.

The blog has grown in range and dimension – politics sometimes, spirituality often, the Mansion, Bishop Maginn, my Amish world. Plus dogs, of course, donkeys, and the life of a farm, my own failings, and strengths.

If you are able and willing, please support my blog. You can do it in several ways. You can send a monthly donation ranging from $5 a month to $7 a year.

You can donate one -time using any major credit card or by donating via Paypal ([email protected]) or Venmo ([email protected]).

Since the blog is free, I pay to maintain it out of contributions. There is no other revenue now. People tell me the blog is an important part of their daily lives. That’s wonderful to hear.

But I need support to keep it going. And I thank you for thinking about it, whether you can contribute or not.

You can support my blog right here.

You can also send donations via mail (Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

I want to say that the blog is free whether you donate or not, and it will always be free to those who can’t afford to pay or don’t wish to. No one is ever targeted or booted off because of money.

It took me a long time to agree to ask to be paid for my work. It was and is the right thing to do. I’m working harder than ever, writing more than ever, and writing better than ever.

The blog has close to four million visits a year now, making managing more expensive than ever. Only a tiny fraction of readers contribute to the blog at all; that is the creative life of the Internet. I have no complaints.

But it is right for me to be paid for the work I do. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way.

This work is creative and humbling and challenging, and meaningful. I am lucky to have it, and I am facing myself and taking responsibility for myself.

The proud man loves his own illusion and self-sufficiency. The spiritually poor man loves his very insufficiency.

The proud man claims honor for doing what few people are doing. The humble man pleads for a share of what everyone has received.

He, too, desires to be filled to overflowing by a meaningful life.

When I look at those different kinds of people, I see myself in all of them. I am on the hero journey, challenging life and confronting it.

I have no illusions about myself. I am working hard all the time to be better. Please pay me for my work if you are able and find it worthwhile.

If you can’t, believe me, I understand.

You can contribute monthly; you can contribute once, you can cancel quite easily at any time. This blog puts up a “cancel” button right next to the “support” button. No one should have to sweat to leave.

I’m living frugally now; I can go a long way on a little.

You can support my work right here or via Paypal, [email protected], or via Venmo, [email protected]. Or by mail, Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.