The Return.

It's been almost exactly a year since I last posted to this blog; what a year this past has been. A year ago, the top of this blog bore a picture from the Goodsoil protest at the ELCA's 2005 national meeting; now, I am one of the leaders of Goodsoil. A year ago, the top of this blog also had urgent calls for reclaiming the US Senate from the Republicans; now, the Democrats possess the majority in both houses of the Congress (may they have the courage to do something worthwhile with them). Most personally significantly, a year ago I had just fearfully submitted my applications to my top-choice doctoral programs, sure that I wouldn't get it there or anywhere; now, I am having the time of my life in one of my discipline's best programs in the nation. For a little while now I have had a sense that I wanted to reenter the world of blogging, and now the time has come to attempt this. I will wait a while till I begin sharing this more broadly with dear ones, so as to accumulate a body of posts that might make it worth it for them to actually visit. For now, dear reader, it's you and me - and I appreciate your "time and patience."