Spirituality
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A Ritual Nurturing of Freedom
“…with the surprising eradication of relatively unconscious structures that housed and empowered a certain inspiring model of human flourishing, we may want to reconsider how we have housed and empowered human flourishing.” Continue reading
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Hannah Arendt and Hope in Dark Times: a Ground of Action
Natality is the condition for continued human existence, it is the miracle of birth, it is the new beginning inherent in each birth that makes action possible, it is spontaneous and it is unpredictable. Continue reading
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Charles Taylor: The Malaise of Modernity in the 21 Century
he Malaise of Modernity also provides a deeper account of self-fulfillment: the true realization of our gifts demands that we escape the citadel of selfishness and recognize the ethical demands that give real depths to ourselves. In doing so, there is more than some reason for optimism. Continue reading
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Relationship
You (Thou) and I belong to the Kingdom of God. Thou and I are very different. Thou and I share much that is the same, Thou and I may be friends, acquaintances, or even enemies. I submit myself to you, especially Thou within you. I vow to live with Thou in peace, as Christ crucified.… Continue reading
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Game Theory, COVID and the Good Life
What I would like to consider today is what COVID has taught us about human flourishing. What should we learn from the experience of COVID, and how ought we do things differently next time? I want to expand on Malcolm Gladwell’s idea in his talk for Google Zeitgeist in June of 2020. And recently moving… Continue reading
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A Christian Faith: False Church and False Authenticity
It is characteristic of pseudo-Christianity that, while claiming to be justified by God, by faith, or by the works of faith and love, it merely operates as a machine for excusing sin instead of confessing and pardoning it. In other words, the pseudo-Church has become a tool for producing a feeling that one is right… Continue reading
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Fasting and Christian Social Action
The intermittent fast is a marvelous ritual. By fasting occasionally (in my case, once a month), we put our bodies into the sharp relief of hunger which is a driving force of life. Fasting urges a realization that our biological reality transcends the boundary between natural and supernatural. Continue reading
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The Corporate Agenda Part 3: The Failure of Technocratic Rationality in Peacebuilding
…quietly observing what the conflict is doing to you before you can ponder the opposite, what you might do to it. Rather than be active, you have to slow down and see what moves in and around you. ‘A lot of it is about listening,’ says Herbert, ‘listening to people, but also listening to yourself… Continue reading
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A Corporate Agenda, Part 1: Tyrannical Time
“…experiences of inequality are built-in to the human artifice and are not merely happenings of our experience, but constitutive features of it – a mechanics very similar to corruption.” Continue reading
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Unique Burnout; Unique Recovery
After the most unique, and commonly-experienced year in our lifetimes, the widespread experience of burnout is upon us. Like many people reading this, I also feel burned out. In my case, as a teacher and writer, my work exists as a constant pressure; it sits in my mind even when I shut off my computer.… 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 