It hardly requires noting that my attention to this blog of late has been somewhat flightly. To send up yet another earnest pledge to renew thrice-daily posts would be to forswear other equally earnest pledges, so I will have to content myself (and the few occasional readers who remain) with a personal update at this point.
After being admitted to doctoral candidacy in January, I managed to secure a major professor for a dissertation project. Neither the topic nor the director were exactly what I had in mind, but necessity makes for strange bedfellows. Rather than my Father of preference, namely the doctor of grace, I will be studying Origen of Alexandria. I did my master's thesis on Origen, so he is at least familiar to me, and I have to admit I even developed a deep respect for the thought of Origen, all posthumous condemnations notwithstanding. I am still narrowing in on a precise topic, but it looks as though I will be analyzing Origen's theological anthropology, or more specifically, the nature of the soul and its role in Origen's theological vision.
The topic is of great interest to me, although it is a bit difficult getting back into the business of library research, especially since I now have to jockey for time more than I used to.
Don't worry. I won't be turning this into an Origenist webpage. Though, sadly, I won't be able to read as much of the doctor of grace as I would have liked.
On other fronts, my second child is still safe and sound in utero, due to show his face sometime in May. (Note: the 'his' here is a traditional, gender-neutral 'his', as his gender remains unknown.) I ask for your continued prayers for him. My first child was born quite early, and seemed to have a personal interest in being born much earlier; this one is showing early indications of the same intent, which could be quite dangerous at this point.
I've agreed to another teaching stint, this time in West Virginia, three weeks from now, on a subject of which I know little (Pauline letters), and to a more educated group (ordained permanent deacons). So the stakes are higher, and the preparation time is shorter. It will also take time away from study, but I think it pays off in the long run.
Due to an accelerated pace at work, I have scarce time to blog on my own, much less read other blogs, and I have entirely tuned out of the news circuit. My own blogging for a while will remain, therefore, somewhat insulated, but that is not always for the worst.
