Gnosce Te Ipse

The first thing I want to really talk about is my spiritual journey. It's an odd one, and I know that many people, many, who knew and loved me when I was going to church in Long Beach will find this story unusual. But my story it is. And I've tried to be as truthful as I can. My questions continue, but one has to start someplace: I was raised in pentecostal churches by parents whose religious attitutudes wavered between neglect and near superstitious frenzy. Then I had Calvin's theology, reduced to a quaint acrostic, shoved down my throat (ah, the limits of deductive reason). After this I became a Baptist, or followed a girl into a Baptist church, and also got involved, with same girl, in Campus Crusade. I even pledged a Christian fraternity (Gamma 85 brother). I went through the steps required to join the church and was baptized even though I wasn't sure I was a Christian. I can remember that quite distincly. Standing behind the stage thinking...I don...

Alright gang, this is amazing. I can't believe it's free, so far. I'm hoping blogging lets me stay in touch with people I haven't seen in years, hear more about their lives than I ever could just calling them. Kudos to scooter for getting me set up. I don't know if I'll change the description (it sounds awfully imperial: Troy Speaks!) but I think this idea rocks. I teach English online and I'm so used to communicating like this, but the classroom, even the virtual classroom, has its limitations. Now I just need to get connected to those people I hope will read my babble, boggle, blog, whatever. This is much better than writing reviews at Amazon. Right now I have a lot of things to talk about: the ridiculous war in Iraq, school ending, life in the mountains, what I've been reading and what films I've been watching, but first things first. I never lifted weights before. Oh, I'd tried it a few times but never enough to even say ...