About this Blog / About Daniel

About this Blog:

It’s like building a fence.

I remember, on my grandparents farm, helping my dad and Pawpaw string electric fence. Each post driven in the ground, marking where we were unrolling to and tracing where we’d been.

I’ve blogged before–leaving my electronic detritus scattered on servers; tucked into cobwebbed sites that I can’t even remember. So why another blog? Why this?

Because it’s sometimes good to count the fence posts. It’s a reminder that all the spinning, unraveling  and footsteps are leading somewhere. The wholeness of the picture can’t be seen until you step away, knowing that a nearly invisible line connects each point, electrifying the whole.

I started this blog not knowing what it would become. Since then it has become quite clear. This blog is a space where I am exploring how to grow in love and the faithfulness of Jesus as a gay, cis-gender, Pentecostal-by-birth/Episcopal-by-practice, Christian. I am striving to provide the groundwork for the kind of convers(at)ion that I believe we all need. The posts within this site are a few of the dishes I bring to the table. I hope you enjoy as you dig in.

 

 

About Daniel:

Artist – Writer – Gardener – Teacher – Poet – Activist – Speaker

These words work.

Brother – Uncle – Son – Pastor – Listener – Word Nerd – Friend

And so do these.

I’m educated in English Literature, Biblical & Theological Studies, Anthropology, Organizational Leadership, and Christian Spirituality, and I hold an MDiv. from The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology.

Ultimately, my vocation is to love. My greatest motivation is to grow in my capacity to love–to seek human flourishing; to honor the particularity of individuals within complex communities where honest, courageous relationships take place as we seek to grow our love of God and neighbor within the web of relationships in our given location on this earth.

My framework is particularly Christian–I approach dialogue with everyone with openness and humility, seeking to honor the integrated whole of each person, recognizing that we are individuals who are spiritual-physical beings and that our identities exist in the living relationship between our experience of ourselves in our bodies and the web of culture, relationships, and contexts in which we live.

I believe that each person’s story matters and that all of our stories interweave in complex ways. I also hold to the story of Jesus–particularly the narrative of God who is the source of life, moving towards us in our humanity to live with us as we are, offer life, and transforming our tendency to do violence by offering a way forward through death and violence into flourishing life. This is the narrative by which I move forward in hope to engage the realities of human suffering and joy.

I share life in Seattle, where I have lived for the past 7 years after moving here from the Deep South. I blog on the worldwide web. I can often be found writing poetry or sarcastic observations on human behavior as I ride this city on Metro buses.

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I am available for conversation locally in coffee shops around Seattle or on the web via email or Skype. I’d love to talk to you about your story or mine regarding sexuality and religion.

I am also available to talk to pastors and church leaders who are interested in developing dialogue in their communities about sexuality, gender, anti-oppression work, LGBTIQ inclusion, participating in local food systems, Biblical Interpretation, and developing community practices for critical conversations and vulnerable dialogue.

If you are interested in having me speak on any of the topics covered in this blog, I am available to be on panels, lead workshops, facilitate group dialogues, lecture, preach, or present at conferences. I am particularly interested in speaking about engaging difference in the church through vulnerability and faithful, imaginative engagement with the story of Jesus.

For any of these reasons–or reasons of your own, please contact me using the form below.

Peace,

Daniel

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