I've attempted blogs in the past, but for lack of interest or my own laziness, I've let them disintegrate into the oblivion of the Internet. Yet I've grown tired of the occasional compacted thought on Facebook, which I do visit regularly, so I figured I would open up the throttle and create a new media of reflection, a place of engagement, and I welcome anyone who stumbles on this pebble on the beach to provide feedback.
I'm a writer by trade. I've worked in everything from entertainment journalism to newspapers. I've written music reviews to political commentary. My real passion however remains in academia. I'm finishing my graduate education at the Ecumenical Institute of Theology at St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore, MD. The University and Seminary is the oldest Roman Catholic seminary in the nation. And I just found out that my commencement speaker in May will be N.T. Wright. Not bad!
My graduate thesis work is on Dietrich Bonhoeffer with special attention to his methodological approach to ethics. It's hard to study such a popular figure and not be influenced by him on a personal level. My opinion of Bonhoeffer however is one that foments in the 1920s-1930s Germany of his day, and so treatments of Bonhoeffer as some kind of precursor to American evangelism are deeply offensive.
Strangely, I attend a conservative Baptist Church, although my theological outlook is a mixed bag of progressive, classic liberalism, and evangelical (both American and Continental). I grew up in Roman Catholicism, but had one of those extreme come-to-Jesus experiences in my early 20s through the street evangelism of a charismatic preacher. I left that man's church in rebellion after almost 2 years, and soon left the faith for about 10 years. Since then I've been following a very crooked path to Jesus, which has taken me to the extreme rejection - near atheism/agnosticism, and then back through a Disciples/Church of Christ church. I even spent a few Sundays in a Lutheran church on my way back to Jesus. My own family hasn't fared much better, moving from traditional Roman Catholicism to Charismatic Pentacostalism and then back to a Roman Catholic Church whose priest was influenced by Rick Warren of all people and now is an example of the emerging Roman Catholic movement.
If there is anything I could add, I'm dogmatically opposed to dogma, but I guess because most non-classical Protestant-based churches do not teach or promote dogmatics in their churches (mine included), the high-energy, no dead-space-style of worship and typical simple biblical worldview is mildly survivable.
I'm hoping to pursue PhD studies after taking at least a year off to recover financially. I would like to teach, and have taught both high school and as an adjunct professor of English as a special favor for a former professor at Towson University. I started a graduate degree in philosophy at American University, but the drive (both automotive and motivational) proved difficult at the time.
I've done some serious writing too. If you nose around, I have a review in the Anglican Theological Review, a reflection in Sojourners, and even a poem through InterVarsity's Student Leadership Journal. I've also done a ton of poetry, but nothing in the last handful of years.
As the title indicates, I'm mostly going to focus on theology. So if that's your thing or even if you despise the subject, your occasional peak into my thought process will provide the necessary corrective, conversation partner, or just the helpful sanity check when I dread I'm doomed to talk to myself on this blog for sometime for lack of followers!
Until next time!
Trey Palmisano
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