Disciple | Husband | Father
On my best days. I get them done in that order.
I am husband and father of four, and a Roman Catholic Deacon. Faith is not something remote; it lives in our day to day world.
I was born in western Pennsylvania, came of age in Texas, and spend my professional career working in Texas, California, and Alaska.
The key turning points in my life all center on those moments in which God has entered my life and blessed me greatly. From that moment in prayer when I knew that I would marry my wife Pat to the moment when I began to trust Jesus enough to let him lead my life to the moment that I was ontologically changed at ordination, my life has been one of blessing and adventure.
I hope that my efforts here to share the joy of faith will help you find true joy.
Education
I knew a man. He was an educated man…
I tend to look upon education as necessary but not sufficient for forming sound opinion. I have known many who succeeded in achieving advanced degrees from top-notch educational institutions who managed to become obstinate in their foolishness, mostly by failing to consider the fact there was much left for them to learn. I have known many uneducated people – or at least people who did not succeed in the way we measure education – who showed a true wisdom in their lives. Here, I outline my educational experience and offer a few of my thoughts. Whether I am wise or not will be for others to decide, but this outline will help the reader to form some judgment on the viewpoints I express.
Theology – Master of Arts
For the past several years I have been studying theology with an orthodox Catholic orientation. I describe it as “orthodox” because it has largely considered the development of the Catholic Church’s current teaching as having been developed in continuity with the actions of God in history and the teachings of Jesus Christ. Some, if not many, might consider this an incomplete or unbalanced approach, especially when one considers the many popular theologic ideas that make a point of distancing themselves from Church teaching.
In the end, I am quite comfortable having studied theology with the mind of the Church. The many voices in the Church over the centuries have indeed considered a full range of thought on most issues of significance. The result is a body of teachings that have been thoroughly tested found true. The result has also been a string of theologians and theological perspectives that have been found false. In the best case, the proponents of these false or better still incomplete concepts have ultimately accepted and embraced Church teaching. In the worst cases, schism has resulted. Today, popularity and notoriety are often associated with those “correcting” or “modernizing” the Church, but these views in my opinion are more popular than true. If the prevailing view in society were tending toward Church teaching instead of away from it, I am convinced that those who might advocate a return to tradition would be the faces that would appear on television news channels.
Business – Master of Business Administration
Many years ago, in order to broaden my understanding and to become a better contributor to commercial enterprises, I began work on a masters degree in business administration. From studies I learned that the stereotypical wealth at all costs business executive, while a very real personality in business, is not the most populous or even the most influential type of business person. Rather, the business executive who understands three important things were the most likely to succeed. First, a deep understanding of the how their firm created value, and for whom is vital. Secondly, a deep understanding of the business environment in which they creat that value is essential. Thirdly, and understanding of the goals and hence the motivations of the stakeholders involved in this value creation is absolutely required.
What I have outlined is, of course, a free market economy. Centrally planned economics are a different matter entirely. I would not two things about a free market economy. First, the interrelationship between the people whose needs ultimately make the economy and the people whose hard work, intelligence, and capital come together to meet those needs cannot last long if based on simple exploitation as some critics would assert. Secondly, there are areas within that system in which power disparities are so great that intervention by government is both warranted and welcome.
Engineering – Bachelor of Science
At its simplest, one might say that engineering is applied science. Engineering demands insight. Engineering must be rigorous. Like classical philosophy, engineering seeks truth. Engineering requires creativity while it demands a certain precision. All of these fit well with my personality. Whether that led me to engineering or whether engineering led to my personality is hard to say. I think it is a little of both.
From the simple to the complex, engineering makes science work for people. From a moral perspective, the concern in engineering lies in which scientific principals should we apply? Just because we can do or design a thing does not it make it right or wise to do so. Romano Guardini, as he mused on the advance of technology about a hundred years ago, made the profound statement that technology was increasing humankind’s power. What he did not see increasing was our power of over our power.
Neither do I, but we can always improve!