Some navel gazing to get us started...

This is my first attempt at blogging, but I feel like I talk so much to people about God, it would be nice to record it somewhere, in written form, for others to access. If you care to. For the time being, I think I will be talking to myself mostly.

A little history might be in order. I am a follower of Jesus Christ and have been for my whole life, although my understanding of what that means continues to change. After my college degree in Religious Studies, I went to seminary as a stepping stone to further education - but through a variety of conversations and events found myself in the MDiv program and ended up with a degree and ordination by a little church in Seattle, Washington and recognized by the American Baptist Churches, USA. I never did go on for that PhD... well, it hasn't happened yet.

I have a fascination with how people perceive God and the ways in which that plays out in their lives. This turns into a lot of study on my own religion and those of others around the world. Am I an expert on other religions? No... but I would say I am well-informed. I guess my interest bends toward the sociological aspects of religion mostly, but theology plays into that so I will, too.

I use the title, "Imago Dei" (Latin: Image of God) because in Christian theology, that's the key to understanding who we are as humans in relationship with our Creator. And that seems like a good place to start. But this blog isn't going to be about how we humans reflect the attributes of God. Well, not primarily. I think this is going to be a place for me to muse "out loud" about how I see God and God's work in the world. So that's me reflecting ON God, not being a reflection. Although, I hope I am that, too... because at the end of the day, it is my hope that my musings will guide you, the reader, on a deeper, more fulfilling path with God - through whatever sociological or ethnic lens you understand God.

I will try to keep my language inclusive, but the whole pronoun thing throws me for a loop sometimes, so I might slip and call God "He" every so often. My apologies up front for this - I don't believe God should be placed in a gender box, but it's so terribly difficult to write without using pronouns. And generally God has been referred to as "He," so I might end up using that from time to time. However, I might just try to throw everyone for a loop sometime and say, "She."

Anyway... I hope my blog encourages you to think differently about God and religion and the whole thing. For now, I must take my child to the park so I will sign off.