desert spirit's fire is 5!

On 16 July 2002 @ 8:39 PM, I birthed this blog, a.k.a. my first blog, my theology blog and my main blog; however, I'm making the time on this post midnight, because birthdays are celebrated all day long. And on this coming Thursday, 19 July, RevGalBlogPals will be 2 years old!

Background

After being caught up in a Moebius loop almost forever, in May 2002 I finished a 2-semester long mini-MBA in entrepreneurship—a Certificate in Community Economic Development at San Diego State University. In the CED program I knew God had brought together everything in my background in a way no human could have: my life-long passion for inner cities, their people and their infrastructures; my background in the social sciences; my social work degree; my activist experience, and my theological perspective. People might argue that graphic design, theology and piano performance were my primary passions and gifts, but I'd counter by insisting those fields weren't necessarily my best places for employment. After graduating with my new professional credential, I got the bright idea of beginning a blog as a place to store my ideas and writing - both new and old - so they wouldn't get irretrievably lost, and as a way to connect with people who have similar interests and passions.

From late August into very early September 2002 I spent several days at Holden Village. My time at Holden included great meals and a series of classes on discernment led by Nancy Reeves, whose site wouldn't load either time tried so I haven't linked to it. I got an autographed copy of Nancy's book, I'd Say "Yes" God, If I Knew What You Wanted, and also had a disappointing session with a guy trained in Ignatian discernment. BTW, twice I'd chosen not to continue the candidacy process for ordinaton to Ministry of Word and Sacrament or pursue any FT staff position in a local church, believing not doing so was the best stewardship of my life and gifts. Back in SD, thinking something absolutely had to come out of my CED year, I attended as many networking opps as possible, continued doing some teaching and preaching and not enough playing and then...