“Begin again at the beginning”

Writing full-time, again

1. Who in the world needs a theologian?

Technically, a theologian is someone who “speaks about God.” Do people need someone telling them about God? A sort of God-expert? Admittedly, I have no hidden insights. What I have is many years of education about the history of theology and religion — went to school and got a doctorate and two masters degrees, and continue to read and study. I’ve taught college courses about the Bible and religion, as well as philosophy and critical thinking. All this information is open knowledge, but requires years of dedication to books very few people would read and courses that most people could not endure. And that’s not to count reading in several dead languages!

People receive conflicting messages about God, religion, and spirituality, and need a way to navigate these confusing ideas and opinions. How can God help me? If God is all powerful why doesn’t God fix the problems of the world? Why can’t I experience God’s presence? How can develop more fully as a human while still being concerned for our world? What is the right religion? That’s where my expertise comes in. I’m here to offer my knowledge and experience to connect it to our personal journeys. My purpose is to communicate the realties that help make life worth living: the awe of mystery of the divine and the awareness of who we are in relationship to that mystery.

After many years as a teacher, I am longing to come back to writing after publishing my first book, Jesus of the East: Reclaiming the Gospel for the Wounded. Writing is providing me a better work/life balance. I’m using my time more wisely and putting my energies into what really matters to me: family, writing, and art.

2. Community of travelers

This is a space for people who want to learn about religion, especially Christianity and how it can be a “good religion,” as the spiritual goes. The offerings will be parts of my book called People of the Way, which attempts to bring together personal development and social concerns. Usually these those two things don’t go together, but what was deeply a part of the original Christian movement was wholeness of all creation. This was about the healing of the self and a regard of humanity, the earth, and all things. This was to be the way that God would bring connection—the unity of all things.

So this is for the wayfarer, the sojourner, the wanderer, and all those looking for those with whom to traverse the journey toward finding a world of lasting peace, wholeness, and abundance in all things. This space is for those who have more questions than answers about their faith. This is a place where we can learn about ways to speak about the relationship between the God and us and ways of living this out.

This space is not about subscribing to a set of beliefs, a denomination, a religion, or a church. It is a space for questions rather than answers. It is a space that is descriptive rather than prescriptive. I’ll only give suggestions and not advice. This is because I probably don’t know you and only you know what is best for you.

3. Benefits

I will be posting three times a week: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays

• Free subscribers get all these posts

• Paid subscribers will be given practical ways to apply what I am suggesting. They are not advice, but suggestions on how to cary out experiments as we are finding our way. This may include:

  • Being a part of the community forum

  • Question and responses forums with me once a month

  • Suggestions for further reading, including book summaries (I get it—we are all busy people!)

  • Suggestions of helpful youtube links

  • Videos about topics discussed

4. Subscribe to start the journey

Let’s “begin at the beginning” together.

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