Reflections on 2021

I typically do an end-of-year post followed by a New Year's resolutions post, so here are my personal and general reflections on 2021. It has not been a bad year by any means. I am far too privileged to have a bad year. But it has been a year of transition, a year of liminality. Although I don't know that I have had COVID, it feels like this time of isolation has finally begun to take its toll on my mentality.

1. I was working at Houghton at year's beginning. By summer I felt that I had played out my role there. Many of my initiatives were reaching their end, and I felt I wouldn't be able to give to Houghton as much as I wanted to give somewhere. The Lord opened a door, and we walked through it.

So I was excited when the chance to work for Campus Edu opened up. It felt like surfing as one wave was going out and another was coming in. I've joked that with Campus I am able to do the things that the structure of IWU wouldn't allow me to do and that Houghton didn't really have the resources to do. I've written a series of blog posts on the Campus blog expressing my sense of what the possibilities of Campus are for Christian colleges.

2. We were forced to buy a house in New York. We moved from the house we were renting into two Houghton College apartments (and 8 storage units) and then into a house that is too small for my books. Perhaps part of my current sense of alienation is that most of my books are in storage and I have no clear office space. I expect we will have moved back to Indiana by the time I do next year's post.

My wife did start raising chickens. They are both an incredible delight and yet we have a taste of a farmer's life. I will not say how many animal "wards" we have but it is no doubt a matter of significant underlying stress, despite the fact that they are all good listeners.

3. My children are on course. Sophie has graduated from Loyola in Chicago in 2.5 years. Tom is graduating from Purdue this year and will do National Guard after ROTC. Stefanie is doing well in Miami and Stacy is still in COVID transition.

4. The situation in America continues to be a matter of concern. The deconstruction of faith is real. The deconstruction of our democracy is real. This is a matter of some despondency for me at times. I am incredibly thankful that the Lord has had mercy on us thus far. I find myself asking what if anything I can do. I may continue a meeting for seekers.

5. I ran a good deal this past year. I ran in the Corning Wineglass Marathon. My training dropped off the last few weeks prior so I only hoped to run the first half without stopping, then to walk/jog the second half. I did play out that way. I must have pulled my Achilles' tendon in the second half. I still have a knot. 

6. I self-published one book this year, a summary of my thoughts on God--God with Ten Words. In this year of liminality, I took five courses with Southern New Hampshire toward a degree in Game Programming and Design. I learned three computer languages--JavaScript, Java, and Python. I don't know if I'll continue. The idea was that courses in the future will likely involve gaming components.

I also decided to work on the chemistry major I started in college. I took Calculus II for Engineers with Arizona State. It was a hardcore course--no punches pulled, as hard as any face-to-face course. I'm proud to say I ended with a 97% in the course, an A+. Don't know if I'll continue. It's a lot of work and money I probably don't need to be spending. It has, however, been very useful to know how these other schools are doing things. I'm currently auditing Calculus I with Outlier. It is perhaps the most innovative approach out there.

I am hoping perhaps that, through Campus, I can help some Christian college or colleges with the insights I think I have gained from these experiences. But most colleges can't see how math and science could be done well online. I've pretty much given up on the Wesleyan schools.

7. I suspect I preached more this year than I have any year since the 80s. I think I preached at least 8 times this year in several different Wesleyan churches in New York.

8. I read some books. Hard to say how many I've dabbled with this year. Let me see if I can jot down some of the ones I've at least dabbled in a little:

• For the Body by Timothy Tennant (strange book. It seemed to amount to--"Listen to your anatomy")
• Fault Lines by Voddie Bauckham (he's a hardcore Calvinist who thinks slavery was predestined by God)
• Reading While Black by Esau McCaulley
• Helgoland by Carlo Rovelli (liked his summary of quantum stuff, but he goes weird at the end, I thought)
• Platform Revolution (the "Bible" of Campusedu)
• After Whiteness by Willie James Jennings
• I started Jesus and John Wayne by Karen Kobes du Mez
• Bob Black's How Firm a Foundation, the history of Southern Wesleyan. He is such a good writer.
• Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning (I've owned but never finished)
• Some business books. I had started a certificate in business at Houghton and passed courses on Principles of Management and Accounting. 
• The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols
• The Lean Startup -- didn't read but got the overview
• The Women are Up to Something by Ben Lipscomb. not done but very much enjoying
• Designing for Growth -- the main textbook for a course I'm teaching in January
• Android Programming for Beginners -- in process as well

I bought dozens of other very good and worthy books as well. Unfortunately, I have not managed to read them. 

8. I don't suppose many would call 2021 a wonderful year. Still, I have learned many very good things from it, and I have a job with spectacular promise. Put me to work, Lord.