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Stories, Experience, and Why David Letterman Held Our Attention
There is a sudden realization that our narrative understanding of ourselves, perhaps wrongly occupies a central place in our attention. Continue reading
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New Life In Christ: An Easter Message
Respectable Christians is not content with faith in the Risen Christ, not content with the grace and love of Christ: he wants the comfort and justification of being on the side of power and convention. Continue reading
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On the Bridge of Khaza-dum: A.I. and April Fool’s Day
A.I. is the awakening of the Balrog and our greed for control has put our fate in the balance. Continue reading
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My Departed Gift
… every “good morning!” needed a response. Every action engendered an obligation… Continue reading
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Covenant and the Freedom to Act – Public Talk with podcast links
The irony in my giving this talk in that place, under these circumstances… reaches my heart with a deep and absurd smile. I grieve it, yes. But God’s plans are always better than mine. Continue reading
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The Friendship Recession: Part 3 – Resilient Practice
You’re also not a friend if you refuse to let people come and say, “I just think you’re absolutely wrong.” You have to listen. You have to share decisions. Continue reading
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The Friendship Recession: Part 2 – Friendship as Both Needed and Discovered
is transformed into something much more important, something vital to the life of the world, when the people who share the table are engaging in the practices of love and of thinking. Continue reading
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A Cold Winter Day
“…while you may isolate at home for a while, Thou belongs to Me, and I to Thou. And this is no longer a trial.” Continue reading
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The Friendship Recession: Part 1 – Learned Loneliness
We have learned ourselves out of covenant relationships, and this is the core of learned loneliness. Covenants seem archaic because so many are not willing to say: I will do my part, even if, for a time, you aren’t doing your part. Continue reading
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Arendt and the Public World Under Threat
We are now at the beginning of the end of the modern university. The same disease that polarizes us makes the University less and less relevant. This is not an economic argument; it is an existential one. (With updated links) Continue reading
About me: I am a career educator and traveler at heart. My written work includes academic writing in philosophy and linguistics, English acquisition, and most intently in the areas of spiritual engagement with reality and what that means for our public lives.
My education is a mixture of formal study in philosophy, political theory, Biblical studies, and history, along with professional teaching certification in TESOL and in cognitive testing, and international teaching.
My travel experiences include a range of countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. I have lived in Canada, the United States, Germany, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Thailand. From those places I have traveled to many others besides.
I am a child of the 70’s and a “family man.” That means I have two wonderful kids who have been round the world with me.
Lastly, I am married to a wonderful woman since 2004. She is my partner, my friend, and my muse.
Thanks again for stopping by,
Raymond Klassen - Ideals and Identities 