A Brief Personal Note

We Now Return to Our Irregularly Scheduled Program

I’ve missed you.

My to-do list on Wednesday of each week includes a reminder to sit down and draft a newsletter. Since early March I have failed to complete that task. I’ve felt guilty about that.

It isn’t that I haven’t wanted to write. I have. But I have not had the time, nor the energy, to do so.

I have been tending to other things.

It’s been a doozy of a year.

For those wondering about Molly’s health, she has improved and is still healing. We discovered her iron levels were low (which was quickly addressed with treatment) and that she has a condition called spondyloarthritis, a rheumatic disease causing stiffness of the lower spine and other nearby joints. Thankfully, this condition is managable, but requires disciplined attention to diet, excercise, and maintaining lower levels of stress. We are still learning the right protocols. Recovery has been slow. We’re thankful for progress, for the prayers and encouragement of friends, the support of family, and for the time to mend.

May marked the end of another academic year. I continue to consider it a tremendous blessing to serve in Christian higher education as a professor and administrator. I have welcomed with delight opportunities to spend time with students outside the classroom, mostly over lunch, but in other spaces as well. I enjoy equipping leaders, listening to their hopes and dreams, and praying for their future work in the world.

In coaching, our recreational club went 19-3-2 on the year. The credit for success goes to the players, and secondarily to their parents, who do so much to contribute to the team. The spring campaign was more challenging on the coaching side. But the year, on the whole, was rewarding.

Joy and David completed their seventh and fourth grade years, respectively, and both finished on a positive note. I’m very thankful for what I see in my children. Good things.

I hope the summer months move at a slower pace. I plan to take more time to read. There are a number of blockbuster movies I’m excited to go see. I’ve signed on for one curriculum project, which I’m in the process of outlining. And Molly and I will celebrate twenty years of marriage.

I plan to write in the weeks ahead. I’ll be in touch again soon. But if not, thankfully for you, a test pattern doesn’t take the place of this newsletter whenever I cut the feed. Tune in next time, irregular Ben time, irregular Ben channel.

Book Notes

Finished: True Grit by Charles Portis, How to Inhabit Time by James K. A. Smith, When Faith Becomes Sight by Beth and David Booram, The Meaning of Singleness by Danielle Treweek, and I completed my latest pass through the Bible (it usually takes me about a year; I’m now into Exodus).

I have a few books on my stack at work: Father Arseny, 1893-1973: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father, James Davison Hunter and Paul Nedelisky’s Science and the Good: The Tragic Quest for the Nature of Morality, and Stanley Hauerwas’s Fully Alive: The Apocalyptic Humanism of Karl Barth.

In mid-March I finished David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, and I note it here for the sake of closure. At home, I’m reading Chernow’s Washington.

Sights and Sounds

April and May tunes have been posted, with the June list coming soon. Listening to Dave Brubeck while I write. I’ve watched a lot of movies; check the Media Log. My Name is Nobody (1973), starring Henry Fonda and Terrence Hill is a Western I feel I should mention because I found it so entertaining.

Last Words

On the blog: I’ll only highlight one post: How I Choose What to Read.

Before I go, standard copy.

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Hit play on the tape with the appeal for social media followers, then: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. I’ve thought about shutting all these down. No follow through…yet.

I’m not checking those accounts, but content does push there. If you use social media as your news feed, follow there. Share my stuff, if you like. Maybe those services are for you. They are not for me. I’ve been a happier and less anxious person since I quit checking social media.

Publishers consider social media numbers when extending offers or invites to write. Likes, follows, etc. help a person like me make their way. Lastly, subscribe to the blog by submitting your email to the "Updates to Your Inbox" form in the sidebar. We're at 1,377 across platforms. Help me get to 1,500+.

That's the business.

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Be well this week. Bless others.

Best,

BAS

P.S. - A picture from over twenty years ago of me, Molly, and Judge Joy Reynolds.