There is an old joke about a young man who said, "A few years ago I couldn't even spell "graduate," and now I are one." That's something of how I feel starting as a blogger. There are several blogs I read, but none that seems to quite fit where I am.

Of course, "where I am" calls for some further explanation. I am an Episcopal priest, and a hospital chaplain. I am in middle age, at the younger end of the Boomers. I am married - actually, divorced and remarried - with children who are adult, if just barely. In all of those categories, and several others that will come to light over time, I often find myself in the middle. I find myself negotiating competing loyalties and responsibilities. I say "competing" and not "divided" because sometimes the separate responsibilities are not related, not directly in conflict, but still requiring me to make choices.

In this blog I'll be writing about most of the areas of my life, and like as not, often about those competing choices. I will not always have answers, but I will have questions, and I will have opinions. Those who know me will not be surprised at that. I will welcome opinions from others. I won't always agree. I won't even speak to every opinion, I expect; but I will be interested.

Today is the beginning of a new year, and the beginning of new things. It is the Feast of the Holy Name, when Jesus was first identified publically by name. This is a first for me. I think I'm going to enjoy this. I hope others will as well.