As I begin the undertaking of this blog, I wanted to start with a post about who I am and why I am doing this. I am a 63 year old husband and dad, and in about a month I will be a retired college professor. I taught mostly Ethics and the Philosophy of Religion, but I have also taught Introduction to Philosophy and Logic, all at Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus, Indiana.
I spent almost 30 years in pastoral ministry also. I was a Quaker pastor in Iowa, North Carolina, and Indiana. I also held credentials with the American Baptist Churches.
I graduated from West Virginia State College, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Bethel Theological Seminary, and also did coursework at the Earlham School of Religion (where my mentor was the well-known 20th century Quaker philosopher D. Elton Trueblood), the University of Louisville, the University of Iowa, and the University of Notre Dame.
In 2011, after almost eight years of discernment, I resigned my Quaker pastorate, and joined the Roman Catholic Church. The Quaker values I held dear, I still do. I tell people I have an "inner Quaker" I still need to nurture. Even after I became Catholic I still did pastoral ministry for several years as a volunteer chaplain at our local hospital.
I should also tell you that I was born with cerebral palsy (which caused almost everyone who knew me to doubt whether I could do the things I did, but basically I have been able to reach all the major goals I set out for myself.) In 2021, I was also diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. From the best I can interpret the data I have seen, the combination of CP and PD happens to one in every 138,000 people. There are only about 2400 people in the US who have both of these, the way a mathematician friend of mine explained it to me. The weight of these two disabilities has gotten me to a point where I need to retire.
As I retire, I am anticipating two things which I want to talk about today.
First, I look forward to more time for a life of prayer and contemplation. Prayer has been a major part of my life. Since becoming Catholic I have plugged into the ancient practice of The Liturgy of the Hours, and other devotions like the Rosary. I feel a call to a prayer ministry. Now, I have been told by some people that in terms of the fivefold ministry of Ephesians 4:11, I have the ministry of a prophet. I do not know, but that seems to be true. But prophets are people of prayer. I have over 100 people I pray for by name each day.
I also pray over the needs I see in the world. I feel a calling from God to be a prayer minister for social justice. So daily I pray for things like an end to war and gun violence, economic justice, and racial and gender equality. I pray for our leaders to bring about universal healthcare, and more open immigration policies because I believe the biblical injunction to welcome the stranger is more important than national security. I pray that laws will be passed which expand who can vote rather than making it more difficult to vote. I do not believe a Christian should support a candidate for any office who wants to make it harder to vote, to restrict healthcare for anyone, make it easier for people to have guns, or implement economic policies which fail to redistribute wealth downward from the wealthy to the poor. These all seem anti-gospel to me.
The second thing I am looking forward to with this blog is a space to write about the issues I mentioned in the paragraph above, because for me, these are not political issues, they are theological and moral mandates incumbent on everyone who wants to really follow Jesus Christ. All of the above concerns arise for me, not out of a preferred political ideal, but out of a vision of what kind of world a Jesus-follower should be working to bring about.
My view on abortion is more nuanced. First of all, I do not think anyone can consistently be pro-life and support war, capital punishment, guns or "trickle-down economics." I believe abortion is hideous. But I believe forcing any woman, of any age, in any circumstances, to give birth against her will is even more hideous.
I can be blunt. I think that is part of the prophetic charism.
I hope through this blog, I can write about the theological ponderings on all of these and other issues, which spring from my heart and mind.
I am prayerful that there will be readers who will ponder and dialogue with me.
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