Check in time...once again it's good to be back. One cannot nearly call oneself a writer without writing, and during my dry spell I found myself wracked with enormous amounts of guilt at many times due to my lack of productivity. Alas, I realize that output is not the measure of the man, but daily wrestling with the void requires outlets and without those outlets the battle begins to age us. I approach this field somewhat older but hopefully not jaded, my eyes wiser for the combat and the daily trouble.

So a few things, personal matters, happenings to air for those of you interested in the context behind the rambling (i.e. the author). Summer days blow by in a windy and pollenated haze, and I am awaiting the fall to start another term of teaching. This time I will be teaching a history of the Bible class at NPBC, an intersting propostion since this is not my first area of expertise. I am looking forward to the research involved, and have begun said quest with none other than The Da Vinci Code. That's right, the notorious novel that has caused more controversy in the church world than Arius. I found the book interesting, a decent piece of entertainment/fluff. It was certainly a page-turner. That Dan Brown writes a fair mystery novel, and his depth of detail is impressive. My own theological reactions deserve another post (I promise), but I can assure they are far less than shock and disgust and more intrigue, perhaps opportunity? Who can say.

The other bombshell is that Kelly and I are strongly considering moving to New York City. That's right, NYC, Gotham itself, the belly of the beast. The reason? A vague yet concrete sense of calling perhaps? A foray into "urban ministry?" Perhaps, let's wait and let the chips fall where they may.

So much excitement and so little time. At least in this post I have inspired in myself material for at least two more meditations. That would roughly equal my entire output for the year. Ahhh but let that not be my measure... there I go again.

So I return, somewhat awkwardly, to the world of blogging after making the many and several changes mentioned in the previous post. Obviously the reader will notice the new design features. I realize that some tweaking is necessary, but I am excited about the new aesthetics of this page. The clean lines, the eye-friendly white background... I find the look to be newsy and informative, utilitarian and yet somehow comforting. Sidebar items are now available as dropdown menus (cool feature). I will be adding a large number of links to the ol' blogroll shortly (been digging around the web quite a bit, happy to share my new obsessions.)

All things considered it feels good to be back in the game. Sometimes it just becomes necessary to shut down, to spend time processing life and the various curveballs that get thrown our way.