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Snow Day
Nothing like a snow day (and the 4 rascals that come with it in our home) to challenge one’s plans. One of the reasons I wanted to scale back at work was to research more and write more. Stop coasting on my theological education and start pushing myself again. But another reason was to spend more time at home, both around the home and with the kids. I have a stack of parenting books on the shelf behind me and I have plans of reading them and graduating to super-parent. But I hadn’t cracked any of them yet, so it was just an average parenting day. Right now my parenting…
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Where Are We?
One of the reasons I wanted to start blogging again is I am troubled by the direction the world is going, and I know I’m not alone in this. I believe I have some of the answers, or at least some of the right cardinal directions. I’m cringing. That feels like such a pompous thing to say. But we all have things we believe, and we wouldn’t believe them if we didn’t think they were true, would we? I know some of my beliefs are wrong. I just don’t know which ones. Yet. But that doesn’t mean I must be silent. I don’t have to be omniscient to be helpful,…
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Hello
My name is Josh Vajda, and I am the Wandering Baptist. I chose this name for myself years ago, as I was trying to decide where I fit after seminary. I originally created this space to be a place to think out loud without worrying about what people thought of me. I signed my posts “WB.” This year I’ve decided I need a fresh start. I’ve wiped this particular slate clean because I want to go a different route. I’m ready to own the name “Wandering Baptist” and to stand by what I post here. I had another blog that I used for “my” writing on occasion, and I’m repurposing…
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The Spiritual Life
I first started thinking about going back to my seminary notes not on a whim or out of despair for all I had forgotten. It started because I’ve been fighting my way out of a dark night of the soul. After a few years of rich intimacy and joyful service, I found myself tired and angry. I knew intellectually that God loves me, but He had come to feel so distant. Often—sometimes each new day—I would have to fight once more to stand and claim the place Christ had purchased for me. As I tackled one illusion after another, tugging at one part of the knot and then the next,…
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Seminary Retrospective
I recently noted that I’ve been back in Michigan for five years, which hardly seems possible. But it only just hit me that I first started seminary over 10 years ago. 10 years! I guess that’s part of the bargain you strike when you spend five years in grad school. Anniversaries like this sneak up on you quickly. 10 years ago right now my first year was already in the rearview mirror and I was diving into summer courses. I didn’t want to take a break. I don’t remember wanting to get ahead, but I distinctly remember wanting more. It’s hard at this point not to dwell on everything that’s…