About

I am passionate about people. From the time I was a child the places in life that held the most intrigue for me were places of meeting such as churches, hospitals and airports. I count such places among what some may call the “thin places” – where heaven and earth are closest. They are great places for people-watching. Now in adulthood I realize my fondness for such places is cultivated from the emotional charges, whether positive or negative, associated with the times my family would come together (e.g. hellos, goodbyes, births, deaths, worship).

Today, I spend much of my time in the thin places. My kind of work is all about meeting people in those thin places – where the air becomes thin and difficult to breathe, where life becomes abrasive. I am a chaplain working in a healthcare system. I also volunteer as chaplain for my city police and fire stations. (You don’t want to meet me on a day I am wearing that badge.) I have daily encounters with people who are hurting. Some of these hurts are physical, some emotional, some mental, and spiritual. The space and time I share with people is precious and often fragile. I often feel forced to play referee between faith and science, even life and death. I am confronted almost daily with some of life’s most difficult questions. Sometimes I have a right answer. Sometimes we are asking the wrong questions.

I am a counselor. Since 2005 I have focused much in the areas of mental health and addiction recovery whereby I am blessed also with the challenge of conducting therapy groups.  Each encounter stretches me just a little more.  In my reaching for the answers, I grow – more so than they. The borders of my understanding are pushed outward. Somehow I am finding my own way on the path to helping others navigate life.

I have resolved to be a life-long learner. I am the first in my family to have the opportunity of attending a college. (My own opportunity was never meant to be – I didn’t attend high school.) I have an AA in Liberal Arts, a BA in Theology (with a minor in biblical languages), and an MA in Intercultural Studies. Somewhere along that journey I lived in my car. I am a product of clinical pastoral education (CPE). I have been in the chaplaincy for almost twelve years. This is a school of its own. I am a member of a physician-clergy forum whereby my modestly limited intellect is challenged regularly by my cohort.

My current pet project forms the foundation for what will likely be a book manuscript, or two. Inspired by the urgings from my colleagues to formalize my hobby, I am contextualizing a reconstructed biblical pneumatology for the contemporary global mindset. In short, it is an undeniable verity about the human family and our spirituality. (The “Coexist” people will love it.) Trust me – it’s interesting. Our religious and cultural suppositions owe their beginnings to this long-misunderstood thing. When you get this theology wrong, you get most all of them wrong.

I am a husband, father, brother, friend, supporter, writer, teacher, learner, speaker, clown, theologian, and philosopher. Otherwise, I am just learning to breathe like everyone else.