As noted in the introduction to the articles published on February 2, 2014, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Commemoration of the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, circumstances require me to make yet another appeal to the readership of this site.

Although there is the possibility of minimum-wage work on the horizon, including “training” this coming Wednesday, February 5, 2014, the Feast of Saint Agatha, for one such temporary, irregular position that would require me to be “on call,” so to speak, on a day-to-day basis, it will be until the end of March before I would get paid for any work assigned to me after the “training.” As what we receive each month is not sufficient to pay bills, it is necessary to ask those who read this site, support its work and who have the means to make a non-tax-deductible financial gift to do so.

There were twelve people who came through for us at the end of December and the beginning of January to see us through a difficult period then. We are very grateful to these truly generous souls. Another two people were good enough to provide help in the middle of January. Unfortunately, though, the bills (car payment, monthly insurance payment, two cellular phone bills, bill for internet access, utility bills) come in month after month.

The amount that we receive at this time makes possible the payment of our housing and the purchase of groceries and gasoline. The current shortfall is the result of the loss of a total of $600 a month in annual non-tax-deductible gifts from two individuals who no longer support the work of this site. While we will be forever grateful to these good souls for their generosity over the years, the loss of these gifts, which has occurred within the Providence of God and is accepted with joy and gratitude as coming from His loving hands, is a hardship in temporal terms.

Indeed, is the loss of the aforementioned support that has made it necessary to spend entire days filling out applications for work, which is one of the reasons that articles were spaced out in early January, although I did wind up writing twenty last month (sixteen on the original Christ or Chaos and four on this new site). We simply need help from the readership of this site.

Mind you, I do not expect those who came through for us in late-December of 2013 and the early to middle part of last month to respond to this appeal, especially since the numbers for the original Christ or Chaos site do indicate that there is enough of a readership to provide the kind of assistance that we need at this time. The statistics will be pasted below the end of this appeal.

Readers should tell that I have been attempting categorize links, something that is a time-consuming process, and providing access to older articles of mine dating back to the year 2000. Efforts will be made as well to scan selected articles from the copies of the printed pages of Christ or Chaos that we have on hand (no, I do not have a complete library of the monthly issues). These efforts have been undertaken and will continue in the event that I do secure even part-time work, something that would decrease the number of articles that I am able to write each month.

There is also the possibility of returning to adjunct college teaching later this year. Yes, teaching is what I love to do. I have accepted being out of the classroom as God’s Holy Will for me. I do pray that I can return at some point later this year, something appears to be within the realm of possibility as it stands now.

The following passage from an article written by an adjunct professor is a pretty close approximation of my own desires to return to what I have been trained to do–and I worked very hard as an adjunct, sometimes at three different universities in the same semester, in the 1990s to make ends meet:

Many people ask me why, given all of this, I would continue to work as an adjunct, but that is the wrong question to ask. The work I do is important, it’s what I was trained to do, and there’s a clear and growing demand for it. Rather than asking why adjuncts don’t find other work, or why they don’t “just quit” as so many well-meaning commentators have suggested, people should instead be asking colleges and universities why they think it’s OK to pay so little for such important work. (Are adjunct professors the fast-food workers of the academic world?)

I will do what I need to do to support my family. For a long time now,  of course, I have tried to make do with the work of this site, on which I have spent many long hours, seeking to give honor and glory to God through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. I am simply asking those who do profit from this work and have the means to provide even a five or ten dollar non-tax-deductible gift at this time to do so.

As I have noted constantly, no one is required to support the work of this site. No one is required to make a non-tax-deductible financial gift. More important than anything else, obviously, are the prayers of those who find this work profitable and who are unable to be of assistance to us in temporal terms.

Thank  you for your consideration of this request, which is made at a time of particular need.

With an assurance of prayers in Christ the King and Mary our Immaculate Queen,

Thomas A. Droleskey, Ph.D., Publisher-Editor, www.NewChristorChaos.com

Personal financial gifts that do not qualify for a tax deduction may be sent to:

Dr. Thomas A. Droleskey

Statistics for the original Christ or Chaos site, January, 2014: