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Thales
Like many, my life is guided by a calling and throughout my life I have pursued it. The calling began as serving ‘God’ and all that was required in me and of me to satisfy the yearning to impact the world for good. Yet, as all things important in our lives grow and deepen, the concept of ‘God’ became and is wondrously mysterious, and the impact made by one who follows goes farther and leads to a journey that is profound. Whatever ways such a calling manifests itself in life, three aspirations are important: to inspire through Wonder; to empower through Wisdom; and live through relationship with the Wild and Nature that surrounds us and makes us human. These three provide the guiding lights for our lives.
SOCRATES
Coming from the wooded hills of southern Ohio, my own calling led me to pursue a vocation of ministry which led me to complete a bachelor’s degree in secondary education at Ohio University and a Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary and to become an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. Again, as life goes, my initial path grew to be a calling to teach, which led me, with the dissertation ‘Philosophy as a Religious Experience in Plato’, to obtain a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Philosophical Theology from the University of Edinburgh.
Teaching Philosophy and Religion at the public university level gives me the privilege to observe how that lives are empowered and transformed through a love of wisdom. To consider the great questions of what we believe, what we know, what is important, and how should we live, are the deepest questions of our humanity. With that, I am moved by the thought that all of us need to examine the lives we lead. When we ask these profound questions, it lights the soul and mind within us and enables us to feel alive. It is a quest that we have at our core: to live a life of importance; to live a life that is wise; to live a life that makes an impact for good.
As every great view of life answers a need, we are here because we seek to live great lives. I want to share with you that which represents beauty, to inspire you with wonder that leads you to question and to think. I want to engage with great ideas that empower with wisdom and knowledge so that truth will light your path. I want you to feel the strength and vitality of being alive as you recognize that you are part of the wild and sense that great relationship with all of nature that leads to goodness and the best of your humanity. What we will find is that our lives will become great as you and I follow that divine spark within all of us that leads to excellence.