Today is #GivingTuesday, a day that tries to balance out “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” just a little bit. Why bother? Because culture matters.

The Saint John of Damascus Society is an arts nonprofit. We’re a tiny one at that — we exist, we have projects we’re working on, and we have something to show for those projects, so that’s good. We’re young yet, though, and still finding our feet. As such, the things we’re working on to help contribute to our culture are only going to happen with your help.

Our mission statement is “Revealing Orthodox Christianity through its sacred music.” In other words, the arts we serve as a nonprofit are the sacred music traditions of the Eastern Orthodox Churches. What does that mean? We’re not a church ourselves; we exist independently of church organizations; we get little to no direct support from church organizations. So, even though we’re not an organ of any ecclesiastical body, we believe that the beauty and richness of the Orthodox churches is worth supporting, advocating, and educating about, and that’s what we do. We believe that it’s a cultural contribution that has value, even in — perhaps especially in — non-Orthodox North America, and all of us who are involved with the Saint John of Damascus Society do our best to put our money, such as it is, where our mouths are.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve filled you in on some of what we’re doing. I’ve got another video for you today, and I’ll have another one for you in two days, on #StJohnThursday. If you think what we’re doing is worthwhile, then you can help us make a difference, and I hope that you will.

It’s #GivingTuesday, so what are you waiting for? Go to http://www.johnofdamascus.org (LINK), and click on the Donate button or the Support tab. Either that, or e-mail me (LINK), and I’ll be happy to talk to you directly. Amounts don’t really matter; many drops make an ocean. All gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law, and we’ve only got 29 days before year end. Theodore will thank you, I promise.