Welcome! You've searched, surfed, or stumbled to THE EXEGETE PAGE
I
have a long-standing interest in exegesis: the
critical understanding and explanation of a text.
My particular expertise is
in Hebrew exegesis, specifically the texts that are found in the Hebrew
Scriptures, aka the Old Testament.
My undergraduate degrees were taken at Concordia Teachers College (now Concordia University) followed by graduate and post-graduate work at
Union
Theological Seminary and 
Harvard
Divinity School
After serving as student minister at the Congregational Church of Manhasset, I was ordained by the Metropolitan Association of the New York Conference, United Church of Christ. Since then, I have served three congregations in the Maine Conference.
If you'd like to see/hear a recent sermon, I have one posted on YouTube and I'm happy to provide the URL upon request.
For the last decade or so, I’ve also been studying sociology with an interest in cultural theory, specifically identity, as it relates to the intersections of sexuality and subculture. This dovetails nicely with semiotics: theory of the function of signs and symbols, syntactics, and semantics.
Memberships
American Academy of Religion [AAR]
Society of Biblical Literature [SBL]
Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities [CARAS]
Religious Coalition Against Discrimination [RCAD]
If you’re not scared yet, read on and find out about my interests away from libraries, classrooms, and sanctuaries!
St Louis Cardinals Baseball. Dizzy Dean. Stan Musial. Bob Gibson.
Albert Pujols. Really, need I say more? Oh, yeah: ten World Series championships. TEN. (Yes, I know the Yankees, the
Yankees… but 10 is more than
respectable). After a slow start, the Birdies are in the swing of things, and that's a very good thing!
Italy. Most especially, Rome. If I ever win the lottery, first I’ll call a tax attorney; next, I’ll buy an apartment in Rome. Where else would someone who likes ancient texts, ancient buildings, history, art, and archaeology want to be? (OK, but it’s too hot and humid in South America and I don’t read Chinese.)
Blog-a-rama The travelblog from my trip to Italy in 2010 is a nice read and it was a terrific holiday, except for the food poisoning. Come along from Roma to Firenze the Via Appia blog and a few photos.
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| Photo slideshow created with Smilebox |
Sushi. Unagi is my favorite; go look it up. My friend, Leslie Rampey, was the author of the often-replicated, and reasonably well-known “Seven Sushi Lessons”. She was killed in an auto accident in 2003. Those of us who knew her, miss her research abilities and her idiosyncrasies. My favorite local sushi place is Fuji, but I always look forward to taking the train to Washington, DC, where there’s a terrific little sushi bar in Union Station.
Stout. Usually Guinness,
and Spaten Optimator on tap when I’m at Richard’s the German restaurant in Brunswick, Maine.
Movies. How can you make a top ten list? Here are two lists with a snippet that says it all for each film, imo.
Before 1965
10 It’s a Wonderful Life. Zuzu’s petals.
9 The Wizard of Oz. Begone, before someone drops a house on you!
8 The Pride of the Yankees. The luckiest man on the face of the earth.
7 The African Queen. I never dreamed that any mere physical experience could be so stimulating!
6 Gone With the Wind. Fiddle-dee-dee.
5 To Kill a Mockingbird. Do you know what a compromise is?
4 Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Wherever you’re going, I’m going your way.
3 Charade. Agents, not spies.
2 My Fair Lady. I could have danced all night!
1 Casablanca. The start of a beautiful friendship.
After 1965
10 Field of Dreams. Where did we come from?
9 E.T. Friend.
8 Nine. Guido!
7 The Silence of the Lambs. The world’s a much more interesting place with you in it.
6 Young Frankenstein. Blucher.
5 Philadelphia. I’m ready.
4 The Shawshank Redemption. Salvation lay within.
3 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? That’s the glory of love.
2 The Graduate. Plastics.
1 The Godfather. An offer you can’t refuse.
There are some honorable mentions too: Lawrence of Arabia, It Happened One Night, The Green Mile, and V for Vendetta.
Books: Bible stuff, of
course, and literary criticism, but sometimes I do need downtime from the sacred, so to generalize: all
of the Brontes, Sam Clemens, Robert Ludlum, Ken Follett, Dan Brown, JK Rowling, Donna Leon, and Daniel
Silva. You see a theme here? They’ve all provided great characters and
wonderful, wonderful reads and rereads. For a less popular 'can't put it down' thriller, check out Trevanian's Shibumi.
If you never read anything else, get away from your computer and go find these three books:
The Hero with a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell Think about why you believe what you believe.
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe Think about why you do what you do.
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte Think about why you are who you are.
