A GOOD GOAL, BUT BAD TEACHING

Colossians 1:20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

The "elemental spirits" seeking to take the Colossians captive in 2:8 make a reappearance toward the end of chapter 2. Now Paul is acknowledging these "spirits" still have some pull with the congregation - shaping their behavior - even though the believers have "died" to them along with Christ. 

Once again, spirits are portrayed as being in league with "human precepts and teachings". Worldly wisdom and spiritual deception work together to mislead. 

Paul recognizes that it seems logical that there would be some usefulness in their guidance. On the surface, it looks like they are promoting a religious approach meant to bring the flesh into submission.

Nevertheless, Paul says "they are no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh". 

So it seems that whatever this false teaching is, its pretended goal is the taming of sinful impulses of the "flesh".

It's a worthy goal, but if the proposed path is ultimately false and ineffective, then it is a distraction from true freedom. 

So the good news for Paul as a teacher is that his students want the same end as he does: victory over sin.

He just has to convince them there is a better way than what they have been following so far. And that is what he turns to in chapter 3. 

ALLOW NO CAPTIVES

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 

There is ongoing debate over the exact nature of the locally prevalent "philosophy" which Paul viewed as a threat to proper Christian teaching there in Colossae. 

"Some suggest a pagan cult of one sort or another; others, some form of sectarian Judaism; others, an early form of Gnosticism; others, a blend of some or all of these." (Wright, 25)

Whatever this philosophy entailed, Paul recognized the threat: it could take the Colossians "captive" - sulagogeo, carried off like booty following a victory in battle. 

Carl Jung famously said "People don't have ideas. Ideas have people." And he was right. 

Try shaking a long-ingrained notion and you will find out who is really in charge.

The philosophy in question was built on "human tradition". This is a problem since humans have a hard time distinguishing between "true" and merely "familiar". 

The second foundation was the "elemental spirits of the world". There is debate on the best way to understand this phrase, but Michael Bird takes it to "denote hostile angelic entities equivalent to the 'rulers' and authorities' mentioned elsewhere in Colossians". (76)

If so, then Paul is fighting an alignment between long-standing and widely accepted, yet mistaken, human ideas and the influence of demonic powers. 

That's a potent combination! 

As an expert teacher, Paul does not carelessly dismiss the philosophy in the midst of the Colossian congregation. Instead, he recognizes its draw and reminds them to be on guard before redirecting their gaze to the person of Jesus Christ. 

To be effective ultimately, a teacher of the faith needs to know the competing philosophies well enough to depict them in contrast to the beauty of Christ.  

PAUL AS TEACHER IN COLOSSIANS 2

In Colossians chapter 2, the Apostle Paul continues the education motif he introduced in the first chapter.

1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

Like any capable teacher, Paul is burdened with a great desire to see his students grab hold of knowledge.

Here, understanding brings the benefit of assurance, in fact "all the riches of full assurance". And the focus of knowledge is "God's mystery", namely Christ Himself.

And again, as in Chapter 1, knowledge begets knowledge. When one gets to know Christ, he or she soon discovers "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge"! 

But this treasury is in competition with false knowledge - what Paul refers to as "plausible arguments" which lead one away from true knowledge. 

As an effective teacher, Paul is aware of competing ideas and viewpoints. And he knows the competition can capture and deceive. 

6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

He continues by encouraging his listeners to follow through with what they have already been taught and then reminds them of their own responsibility. Yes, their teacher is aware of competing ideas, but they also must actively guard against worldly forms of knowledge that run contrary to Christ. 

You've probably heard this truism before, but it is fundamental (but easily forgotten in the pulpit): The effective teacher doesn't just tell students WHAT to think. The effective teacher shows them HOW to think. 

IN THE END, THE ANSWER'S THE SAME

If you always agree with the teaching of your pastor/church/denomination, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

In my opinion, it depends. 

I worked up a little flow chart. 

(It's ugly, yes, but let me know what else you think of it.)

REPETITION

I once served as youth pastor under a senior pastor who was a sweet-natured, earnest, and godly man - which put him head and shoulders above a few other pastors I worked under. 

But he wasn't the greatest preacher.

He once told me, "You know, I only really have three different sermons that I deliver. I just rotate between those three."

And honestly, that was two more than I had noticed!

It seemed to me that week after week he offered slight variations on one particular exhortation: "If we are going to be authentic disciples of Jesus, we must get out beyond the walls of the church and love our neighbors in tangible ways."

Obviously, this is true. I had no problem with the message - I just didn't want to hear it every Sunday.

(Especially when there was an entire book full of God's words to explore.)

Repetition is necessary and serves an important role in effective teaching, but it can't be the only arrow in your quiver.

If repetition isn't resulting in changed behavior after a few weeks - let alone a few years - then it's time to step back and see if there is a deeper issue causing a roadblock.

To be effective, a teacher needs to search out those gaps in knowledge and fill them.

THEN the congregation might be able to move forward. 

Without excessive repetition.

PRIVILEGING THE HYPOTHESIS

I've started reading Alchemy by Rory Sutherland. If you're not familiar with Rory and you are interested in human psychology and behavioral science, you can find him in a lot of YouTube videos. He is vice chairman of the prominent British marketing agency, Ogilvy. 

And he knows his stuff.

Anyway, the subtitle of the book is "The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life". 

This book is an example of the stuff I think seminary students should be required to study. Maybe the class would be called Human Psychology and Behavior - Deal with It.  

Here's a snippet I find relevant to church life: "The single worst thing that can happen in a criminal investigation is for everyone involved to become fixated on the same theory, because one false assumption shared by everyone can undermine the entire investigation. There's a name for this - it's called 'privileging the hypothesis'." (p.14)

While Sutherland is talking criminal investigations here, the same holds for theology: it is dangerous when everyone grabs hold of the same false assumption.

It has happened repeatedly throughout church history, beginning with the pharisees who did this bit of logical reasoning:

Premise 1: It is against God's law to work on the sabbath.

Premise 2: No Messiah would ever break God's law.

Premise 3: Healing a person is work.

Premise 4: Jesus healed a man on the sabbath.

Conclusion: Jesus worked on a sabbath and therefore cannot be the Messiah.

This airtight logic was impenetrable by even acknowledged miraculous works performed by Jesus: Because we know He cannot be the Messiah, He must be doing these works by the power of the Devil!

No further investigation was needed. They all agreed that their hypothesis was correct and so it must stand at all costs. 

The pharisees are long gone, but how many hypotheses do modern believers hold as privileged just because "everyone agrees"? 

Why are Bereans in such short supply?

Acts 17:11 - Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

What Paul was teaching went contrary to the Bereans' assumptions, but they did not reject his teaching outright. Instead, they studied the Scriptures FOR THEMSELVES.

SPIRITUAL STAGNATION IS EVIDENCE OF IGNORANCE

After the Apostle Paul holds Epaphras up as an effective teacher of the Colossians - evidenced by the fact that the gospel was bearing fruit in their lives and increasing - Paul goes on to connect spiritual education directly to life growth two more times in the first chapter of his letter. 

First in verses 9 and 10:

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God ...

And then later in verses 28 and 29:

28 [Christ] we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

The first instance highlights the believers' obligation to learn on their own, presumably with the aid of the Holy Spirit. Paul says he prays they will be filled with knowledge of God's will "in all spiritual wisdom and understanding".

The result will be believers walking in a manner worthy of the Lord, defined as "bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God". 

It's notable that Paul maintains that as the Colossians walk in the knowledge they have already received, they will receive more knowledge. 

The second instance highlights Paul's prerogative as a teacher to warn and teach "everyone", again with the goal of maturity in Christ. 

Whether learning occurs independently or under a teacher, the predictable result is spiritual growth, fruit, and maturity.  

If this can be reverse engineered, then we can say stagnation, lack of fruit, and immaturity - either on the individual or congregational level - is evidence of a lack of learning, both independently and under another's teaching. 

ATLANTA

Too tired to write anything worth thinking about tonight. I drove from Columbus to Atlanta today to represent Mission Resource at the International Conference on Missions over the next couple of days. 

There were some traffic slowdowns, but overall the drive was pretty easy. I was driving our new car and it almost drives itself - literally. 

I experienced my first Buc-ee's stop, but otherwise the day was pretty dull. 

Tomorrow morning I head to the convention center to set up my display. I will be sharing a booth with our friends from Basic Utility Vehicles of Indianapolis. 

TRAJECTORY

I suppose most Christians walk around with an innate sense that their tradition, their denomination, and their local church have managed to hit the theological nail squarely on the head.

I used to assume my tribe was 100% on target and all other denominations ranged from "really close" to "way off". Other brands of Methodists and Wesleyans were close to holding correct theology while Catholics were really missing the boat.

Then I started looking closely at Calvinism and, at first, I grew nervous that I had missed something essential to faith. There are some really smart Calvinists out there and they write a lot of books and preach a lot of sermons. These men seemed like they really knew their Bible, too.

But the entailments of Calvinism never sat well with me. In time, I began to see the holes and contradictions in their very neat and logical system. 

And once I saw them clearly, I couldn't unsee them. 

Eventually, I got to the point where I viewed their theology as obviously and deeply flawed. 

And although my final conclusion was that Calvinism is a ridiculous error, I never forgot the fact that for a long period of time, I had thought maybe they were completely right. 

I still watch plenty of debates on the subject and - unsurprisingly - nobody ever changes their minds. 

And that brought me to a place of self-reflection: Is it not possible that I could also hold some theological convictions that are just as much in error? How would I know?

As Scott Adams says, "Being absolutely right and being spectacularly wrong feel exactly the same". 

These days, I don't expect to ever reach 100% in my lifetime - there's always more to learn. There are mistaken assumptions to be confronted. 

(And if Scripture never challenges my assumptions, then am I even reading it closely?)

I have decided that the best I can hope for is a lifetime trajectory of moving in the direction of Truth. 

If I am wrong about something, I want to know today so that tomorrow I am on a more accurate course. 

EPAPHRAS: AN EFFECTIVE TEACHER

I have started to look into Paul's letter to the Colossians again since it is the portion of Scripture I plan to use as the theological foundation for my dissertation project.

I want to highlight a prominent motif in the letter that can be overlooked too easily: teaching and understanding. 

It gets underway early - by the 6th verse - where Epaphras is recognized as teacher to the Colossians:

"5b Of this - (the hope laid up for them in heaven) - you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant."

Apparently, Epaphras was a GOOD teacher - the proof being the gospel bearing fruit and increasing in their midst.

The hearing AND understanding are both crucial here - just as in Jesus' parable of the 4 soils in Matthew 13 where the ultimate difference between the first and last soil is "understanding".  

Hearing doesn't automatically lead to understanding.

And without the people grasping the truth, the gospel would not advance.

While it's true that even the best of teachers cannot reach EVERY student, NO students are reached by the worst of teachers.

Epaphras apparently proved to be a good teacher.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PRETESTING

This past weekend I had the opportunity to put some of my dissertation thoughts into an hourlong workshop at a youth retreat at nearby Southeastern Baptist Youth Camp. 

In keeping with one of the basic principles of good teaching practices, I decided to ask the teens a simple question on Friday night before my workshop on Saturday. I was planning to talk about the gospel being bigger than the typical "you're a sinner so Jesus died for you and if you believe in Him you can go to heaven when you die" concept, and I wanted to know what the kids already knew.

So I asked the retreat organizers to hand out these cards and ask the teens to give their best responses:

When I came in the next morning, the cards had been filled out AND the other adult leaders - local pastors and youth pastors - had read over the replies.

They were aghast!

I had received responses like these: 

• "The gospel is what helps you get closer to God, like listening to Christian music, praying, reading your Bible, or talking to someone."
• "The gospel is the story of Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world."
• "The gospel is a place where you learn about God and what he did for you because he loves you."

The responses prompted talk among the camp leadership of revamping the summer camp teaching for next season! They realized they were entirely overestimating what the teens already knew.

Basic teaching: Before the lesson, find out what your students already know, what they don't know, and what they think they know.

ANOTHER MISSING CLASS

Here's another class that I think should be required for every seminary student: Basic Psychology and Behavioral Science. 

I think a lot of burn out, stress, and conflict in the life of a pastor could be stopped in its tracks by familiarity with the realities of:

• Confirmation Bias
• Cognitive Dissonance
• Framing
• Habit Formation
• Logical Fallacies
• Reciprocation
• Social Proof
• The Dunning-Krueger Effect
• Etc.

The class would be an easy sell because this stuff is flat-out fascinating.

Plus, it could all be incredibly useful for the "marketing" aspect of church life. 

There would be plenty of real-world case studies to look at and it would be fun to find examples of all the various human quirks of thought and emotion in the Scriptures. 

Once you are familiar with the concepts, you see them illustrated left and right throughout the Bible. 

A MISSING CLASS

You can bet that every seminary offers plenty of classes on preaching and Bible study, but I am not aware of any seminary which requires a class on best teaching practices.

I would be curious to find out if any even offer such a class as an elective.

So, if I could wave a magic wand and change the seminary experience for the next generation of pastors, a required class on pedagogy would be at the top of my list. 

I haven't done in-depth analysis, but from glancing over online Bible dictionaries, the use of Greek and Hebrew words associated with the concept of "teaching" easily outnumber those associated with "preaching" in Scripture - even without throwing in all the instances of "knowing". 

Here are the main qualifications for an "overseer" of the church, according to the Apostle Paul himself:

"An overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money." 1 Timothy 3:2-3 

Is it not interesting that "able to teach" gets included while "able to preach" does not?

LIKE ALGEBRA, BUT WORSE

Imagine if your high school math teacher approached algebra like the typical church approaches faith education.

First of all, class would only meet once or twice a week and there would be no expectation of students doing any learning outside of class.

The teacher's sole approach would be lecture. 

Correct answers would be supplied for every problem - no need for students to wrestle through any sort of practice exercises.  

Worst of all, the teacher would skip around the math book, pulling out random, disconnected lessons from week to week. Today from chapter 7, next week a single equation from chapter 13, and then back to chapter 2 the following week. 

The only thread tying the lessons together would be the fact that they all concern numbers.  

It's fair to say that the students sitting under that math teacher would be thoroughly confused and constantly frustrated. 

And bored.

Week after week, they would be no closer to comprehending math than when they started.

Along the way they may pick up some math terminology, but they would not grasp workable definitions.

At the end of the semester, the teacher would still be the only one in the room who truly understood math. 

(If even he did.)

And when all was said and done, most of the students would drop out of further math classes at the first opportunity - unless maybe they enjoyed hanging out with their friends in the class.  

OUT OF THE MIST

I thought of at least one more basic premise of good teaching since yesterday - and it is super basic, but in the pulpit it doesn't always happen.

So here it is: An effective teacher knows the material inside and out. 

If the teacher is confused or unsure, the students will be doubly so.

It has been said that "a mist in the pulpit becomes a fog in the pew". 

The best-case scenario, of course, is when the teacher is utterly fascinated by the subject matter. 

A preacher should be utterly impressed with the beauty, wisdom, and power of Scripture.

A genuine fascination can be contagious.

And one other premise that I am reminded of just now: A good teacher consciously teaches students HOW to think, not just WHAT to think. 

This can only be accomplished if the teacher makes a practice of critical thinking in his or her own study and preparation. 

BASIC TEACHING

If at all possible, I plan to avoid using words like "pedagogy" in my dissertation and keep to a straightforward exploration of "teaching". 

Because teaching doesn't HAVE to be complicated and learning how to teach doesn't HAVE to involve a bunch of $5 words or drawn-out explanations of esoteric philosophies. 

(Is "esoteric" worth at least $5?)

Teaching is a skill, a science, and an art - but the basics of competent and effective teaching are not beyond the reach of any ordinary person. 

Off the top of my head, here are some basics of teaching:

• Start with what the students already know - or think they know.
• Set objectives: what do the students need to know?
• Plan the "test" in advance: How will the students show they have learned the material?
• Determine a logical order of presentation.
• Provide some sort of road map up front. 
• Make the material relevant. You should have a good answer to the question in the back of every student's mind: "Why are we learning this?"
• Review frequently – learning requires repetition.
• Give students time and opportunity to process and practice, not just listen.
• Check comprehension periodically along the way – If you are losing them, you want to know ASAP. 

If you're a teacher or if you've ever sat under an expert teacher, I could use some feedback here: Which other aspects of teaching do you consider essential?

GOOD TEACHING IS HARD TO FIND

(No time to revise tonight - this is very rough drafty.) 

Good teaching is hard to find. 

I know there are standout teachers at all levels, but have you ever noticed that, on average, as the grade level increases, the quality of teaching decreases?

Kindergarten and first grade teachers are masters at the art of teaching. They have to be, or their kids make no progress - which proves to be very apparent at that stage! Administrators and parents put lots of pressure on teachers at the front end of kids' education. 

But by high school? It's fairly common to hear students complaining about "not learning anything" over an entire semester. And often it isn't really hyperbole. 

By the time a student gets to the college level, "teaching" is pretty much synonymous with "lecturing". 

And this paragraph and the next will likely not make it into my dissertation in any form, but I was astonished by the poor teaching practices I encountered during my two years taking classes at the doctoral level. I had one professor out of 8 who really excelled at TEACHING. 

The others "knew their stuff", no doubt about it, and they were wonderful people. But if they ever took courses on best teaching practices, it didn't show.

(In fact, as I understand it, once I have my doctorate degree, I will be magically qualified to teach at the seminary level - not because I happen to have been trained as a teacher and have years of experience, but by virtue of having a depth of knowledge on some particular topic and a degree to prove it. And, obviously, attaining a depth of knowledge for oneself does not automatically translate into the ability to convey that knowledge to others.) 

So if even those in the teaching profession often fail in educating their students, what hope do we have that pastors will automatically be good teachers? Does attending seminary qualify someone to teach?

I am not aware of any seminary which requires general students to take classes on best practices in educating others.

But what's crazy is this: good teaching IS hard to find, but it's not overly complicated to do. 

PREACHING AND TEACHING

When I started serving as minister at Sardinia Baptist Church two and a half years ago, I quickly realized I was much more comfortable Teaching rather than Preaching.

At first, I wasn't even aware that there was a difference and I'm still not sure where the line between the two actually is drawn.

Maybe I'm being overly simplistic, but I understand Preaching as aimed at the heart and the spirit. It is meant to motivate and persuade.

And Teaching is aimed at the mind, seeking to foster knowledge and understanding. Its goal is to explain and equip. 

Both can and should spur transformation. Under Preaching, it is the transformation of thoughts, words, and actions. 

And under Teaching, it is the imagination.  

I don't suppose either is inherently more valuable, but I do think there is an order: Teaching first, and then Preaching. 

There should be an order and there should be balance.

But in the American church, Preaching has long been prioritized over Teaching.

TWO TROUBLES

Ronald Reagan famously said, "The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so."

And I would say that, unfortunately, American Christianity suffers from both troubles: ignorance and wrong belief. 

Both, in the end, amount to unbelief.

Off the top of my head, here are a few important things I would guess most American Christians are ignorant of:

• The scope of the gospel
• The historical context of various books of the Bible
• The cultural contexts of the original audiences
• The metanarrative of the Bible
• Church history
• The major themes of the Bible

And a few of the things, in my opinion, which many American Christians "know that isn't so":

• Hell as eternal conscious torment
• Calvinism and all its distinctives regarding predestination, election, sovereignty, and etc.
• Penal substitutionary atonement 
• Faith as mental assent to propositional truth

THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM

At the heart of my dissertation work is the importance of education.

To put it negatively, a lack of proper education is often found at the very heart of society's greatest problems. And if it's not at the heart, at the very least poor education exacerbates other societal weaknesses.

Take our nation's current political climate as an example. How much of today's polarization could be toned down if the populace was trained in critical thinking?

I believe this much: if the citizens magically became critical thinkers tomorrow, much of the politicians' rhetoric would fall flat. Their word games would be over and they might be forced to govern instead. 

Fix the education and you fix the culture.

I believe the same is true within the American Church - we have a major education problem. And it's the root cause of all sorts of issues which weaken the witness and the power of the Church. And jeopardizes its future. 

Believers, by and large, simply do not know the Scriptures. In fact, they do not even know how to read them or where to start. They are fully dependent on interpretation done by pastors who are almost as ignorant. As a result, too many believers don't know God's character, His mission, or His provision for humanity.

They certainly don't seem to know the gospel. 

So how does the Church's education problem get fixed? Where do we start?

I know there's no quick fix. 

But I believe the starting point is with the young. 

P.S. I recognize that it's entirely possible this is only confirmation bias on my part - since I am a teacher at heart. Maybe I want to believe that teachers have the power to solve the world's problems. (But maybe they do.)

COMING CHALLENGES

I have a recurring stress dream where I am a new teacher in an unfamiliar school and I'm running late on my first day of classes. As I run down the hallway (sometimes in my underwear), I realize I have forgotten where my classroom is. 

Yesterday, reading the email informing me that I was a month into a class I didn't even know I was enrolled in felt a lot like that.

But only at first. 

After the initial shock wore off, I discovered I wasn't feeling too panicked in general. 

The class's major project will be the completion of my prospectus, a 20 to 25-page paper outlining the parameters of my project and giving a theological justification for it. 

And I have already done that once.

And, yes, my first attempt was rejected - for good reasons.

I am (2 years) older and wiser now and my foundational convictions are firmer. It shouldn't be TOO time-consuming to revise my prospectus. It's always much easier to start from a rough draft than a blank page.

The real challenge at this point will be twofold:

• Narrowing the focus of this beast down to a manageable size.
• And facing what comes next once this step is completed. 

If I'm honest, fear of next steps has been a major factor in my delay in revising and resubmitting my prospectus. 

BACK TO IT

I'm back to writing daily.

Because ...

1. I missed it. I have felt somewhat mentally adrift ever since I fell out of the habit. Writing helps me process life and reinforces whatever the Lord is currently teaching me. It's too useful to neglect.
2. I have a renewed purpose. Today (Noevember 5, 2025) I got notice that - unbeknownst to me - I am a full month into a 6-month class required for my dissertation! 

Yes, I have missed at least one assignment and a Zoom meeting so far.

Wesley Biblical Seminary decided they needed to light a little fire under a handful of their doctorate students who are stalled out - including yours truly. And so they established a new class.

Sure, it would have been nice to learn about the October start date in September rather than November, but I applaud the school's proactiveness. I NEED some deadlines if I am ever going to finish.

In theory, by the end of this class I will have my prospectus completed and, God willing, approved. 

In order to get everything processed and written by the end of March, though, I will need to invest time daily.

So THAT is my renewed purpose for this blog for the time being.

Hopefully, the things I write here in the coming weeks can serve as rough draft material for my dissertation. 

(The last time I tried to reignite my writing habit was in July, just before Melissa and I went to Scotland to celebrate our 25th anniversary. I was too much in the moment to write daily during that trip, but of course I now wish I had followed through with that writing!)