A Request and Previews

Our intrepid Managing editor for the Patheos Pagan Channel, Dr. Christine Hoff Kraemer, has suggested to me that, in order to avoid burnout, it might be wise not to try to make a major contribution to world literature, theology, and philosophy with every blog. I can see that. It’s okay just to chat once in a while.

Now, I do have a request. If those among my readers who are college teachers or who otherwise hold a prestigious position that might impress our Dean might be so kind as to post a comment or send me an email (to [email protected]) raving about how wonderful my blogs are as contributions to human knowledge, I would much appreciate that, since it would give me documentation for having satisfied one of my four annual requirements for professional development that all us adjunct instructors are obliged to do. If you don’t like my blogs, then please don’t write.

Kind of as a preview, I’m thinking about how to psychoanalyze Jesus ex post facto. Having been thinking about my own “Awakening” and other “conversion” experiences for 50 years now, I feel that I’ve made a little progress in understanding how they worked, why they happened, what they meant, and so on. If Jesus (you know, Rabbi Yeshua ha-Notsri) had a similar Awakening experience after his baptism by John–and I’m awfully sure that’s what is being described at the beginning of the Gospel According to Mark–then maybe I have some valid insights into what he may have been thinking about that would not occur to someone who has never had any such sort of experience. At least it’s worth a try. Ditto for Joseph Smith, Jr., and several other interesting characters.

I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking for some years about the nature of consciousness, quantum mechanics, how initiations should work, and the differences between ravens and writing desks. I’ll be writing about some of that, as well as about how I learned to be psychic, how I became a Socialist, and what it was like working with world-famous scientists at Scientific American Books.

And maybe I’ll write about my kids too.