Write about a few of your favorite family traditions.
At some point both my maternal and paternal ancestors turned to the ocean for their livelihood. Supposedly the choice came from our origins on the coast of west Africa. The number of people occupied with and attached to the ocean has yet to be catalogued, and may never be, but the range is also staggering: seafood lovers, lighthouse keeper, fisherman, harbour customs officer, and marine pilot. Go figure!
What’s your dream job?
To be on a team of teachers committed to the message of Christ without any of the night shadows that have accompanied the isms and schisms of the last 2000 years.
What makes a good leader?
If I were in the current governing class in the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, the People’s Republic of China or Israel that would be my answer. But I am from a far away galaxy where leaders are compassionate servants of the people with a dependence on plows not weapons of mass destruction, and do not use walls to divide citizens and do not use the levers of power to enrich themselves and their friends.
If you could un-invent something, what would it be?
God once gave the Babylonian state the ability to emulate human attributes. The king and his advisors stumbled catastrophically. Since then practically every nation has made the same mistakes while claiming to be sources of goodness.
“‘Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.’” (Daniel 4:27, NASB)
Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?
My wife and I lost a son when I was at college. As the end of my baccalaureate years closed in I was losing my respect for the campus community and felt less in common with the religious community whose interests I was supposed to champion. I would have left college with an unmistakably great academic record, lots of professional promise, record-breaking achievements, but with an opinion of the campus community that it did not deserve.
The entire community came to mourn with us. They brought food, they brought money, and they brought themselves, most just to sit silently with us. The love we felt was undisguised, genuine and is unforgettable. Every aspect of the community’s support was perfectly loving.
What is your mission?
My parents are human; I hope yours are too. They gave me their best materially and spiritually. It’s a good thing no one can interrogate them to find out exactly how well I am doing because they confirmed before kissing life goodbye that my choice of paths to maturity were on the money.
When are you most happy?
Three things make me truly happy; sunshine, rain and the pursuit of creating music.
I like the sunshine because it powers our life here on the planet, and particularly on this day, the winter solstice, as the sun begins its journey back towards rising in the east where I can see it rise over the horizon, instead of coming up behind buildings later on in the day, I am supremely happy.
I love the rain because it cleans the air and causes food to grow to feed a hungry planet. I like the sound of the rain beating on the roof and I like the smell of the earth when it is touched by rain. I think it is my love of water, especially the ocean and its movement and sounds.
I like the pursuit of creating music because music is latent in almost everything I do: I am gifted to detect rhythm, harmony and melody in so many things around me. Sound is life! There is my happy package.
What skills or lessons have you learned recently?
Shutting down my voice and pen have been a strategy for doing no harm. Today, I can say there are great reasons for silence.
Life is Fun, But Not a Joke 