Saying Hello

[David Miller]

Hi, I'm a United Methodist clergyperson, currently serving as chaplain and instructor at a United Methodist college.  I self-identify as a progressive Christian, largely because that is the most well known label referring to post-traditional Christianity. I also might describe myself around campus as a Christian, but not exclusively.  Less frequently, and primarily to those who would already understand what I mean or to those who might almost understand, I echo Derrida's claim that I could rightly be called an atheist.

I have a blog entitled "Divine Salve" where I post very infrequently, and I've been picked up in the past week as a columnist at ProgressiveChristianity.org.  Who knows whether the larger audience will prompt me to blog more often.

I'm also a grad student in the University of Louisville's Interdisciplinary Humanities Ph.D. program.  I've concentrated on phenomenology and hermeneutics.  I just passed my last comp in April, and my dissertation will deal with phenomenologist/theologian Jean-Luc Marion.  His is a postmetaphysical phenomenology/theology, and I hope augment/critique him with Gebser's integral phenomenology.

I have loved developmental theories since seminary, reading Fowler, Kohlberg, Maslow, and Piaget.  I discovered Wilber in the early aughts, when I read A Theory of Everything and quickly thereafter Integral Psychology and, because of Wilber's connection to it, Spiral Dynamics.  I've read a few of Wilber's other books, but I've kept up with the broad thrust of his thought online and see lots of great places to go with Wilber-5's Integral Postmetaphysics.

I've read through several of the threads here and hope to start interacting.  Maybe it will help me sharpen my thoughts for my dissertation.

[Balder]

Welcome, David!  It's nice to hear from you and to learn about the work and the inquiry you are doing, much of which sounds similar in spirit to topics we explore here.  I look forward to talking with you further.