About Me


Family & Identity

My name is Michael. I am part of the LGBTQ+ community– queer, as in "Magneto was Right." Married to Nate, stepfather to a teen, and corgi dad to a lovable pain-in-the-butt. We live in Michigan, though I was raised in the woods of Central Kentucky, where a piece of my soul will forever live. I am an Ennegram 9, INFJ, Deliberative Strength, "old soul" and "sweet young man."

My Favorite Things

Video Games

  • Fire Emblem (Top 3: Three Houses, Path of Radiance, Blazing Sword)
  • Persona
  • Xenoblade Chronicles
  • Marvel Rivals

Books and Authors

  • Cynthia Bourgeault (The Wisdom Way of Knowing, The Wisdom Jesus, Eye of the Heart, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, The Meaning of Mary Magdalene)
  • 'A Testament of Devotion' by Thomas Kelly
  • 'Dayspring' by Anthony Oliveira
  • 'The Tao of Pooh' by Benjamin Hoff
  • 'How to Change Your Mind' by Michael Pollan
  • 'Awakening to the Spirit World' by Sandra Ingerman

TV Shows

  • The OA
  • Sense8
  • Avatar (the Last Airbender & Legend of Korra)
  • Community
  • Digimon
  • X-Men '97

Movies and Directors

  • Interstellar
  • Women Talking
  • Mary Magdalene
  • Studio Ghibli (My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Nausicaä, et al)
  • Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse, Nosferatu)

Education & Career

When I was 17, the powers that be and my parents let me (a closeted gay boy with a gentle spirit and kind heart) sign for student loans at a private Christian University in the deep South, so that was... formative, to say the least. I studied music education (saxophone) but graduated with a degree in theology and family ministry. I jumped straight directly into seminary, and promptly changed tracks to the MA in Counseling program, because by this point I knew I could not stay closeted forever and I needed a career. After a year and being called in by the dean to talk about my "sexual preferences," it became clear that I needed to leave. After a few years working retail, home care, assisted living, and a string of temp and gig jobs, I went to grad school properly for a degree in School Psychology. I have been practicing for 5 years now, and while starting in education during a global pandemic lockdown and a national assault on public education was not easy, I am finding my way and trying to do some good for children, their education, and their wellbeing.

Religion & Spirituality

As a "pk"- preacher's kid- I grew up going to my fundamentalist Church of Christ every time the doors were open and frequently when they weren't. I grew up memorizing Bible verses, reciting Bible divisions and chronology, praying, obeying, and avoiding temptation and "the appearance of all evil." It was a puritanical and reasoned religion, where there was no place for the Mystery of God or the movement of the Spirit. It was surprisingly materialist and mercifully apolitical. And for all I can say about the damages of sexual purity culture on a pure-hearted gay boy and the blasphemies of denying the Spirit (the only sin in the Bible referred to as "unforgiveable," by the way), the seed of spirituality fell on the good soil of my being. It grew deep roots, and for that, I am thankful.

I attended a Christian University in Arkansas, a cultlike nightmarish experience full of challenges that forced me to mature. My memories are mixed, remembering the tenderness of those relationships, but soured by the maddening sexism and life-denying theologies. When I came out, my entire family and ~90% of my entire social circle disfellowshipped me: A cultish tactic to discourage leaving and make it as hard as possible to do so. I landed on my feet thanks to the generocity of some allies. After this, I explored the Episcopal Church, and progressive Christianity broadly. During this time, I learned of Quakerism. I have a lot to say about Quakerism, but that's better left for future blog posts. My husband and I decided to attend a United Church of Christ as our first church together. He is now a UCC pastor, and I am currently part of a UCC community with him.

In 2020, I tasted the Mysteries of the Universe, which I will also write about in more detail elsewhere. In short, it opened me to more than the intellectual knowledge, but also the experiential gnosis of religious experience. I entered an enchanted world of Christian Mysticism, metaphyisics, contemplation, meditation, integral philosophy, animism, shamanism, ritual consciousness, ceremonial magic, world traditions, and so on. There have been a small handful of times in which I have feared for my sanity, but mostly I feel I have handled the radical paradigm shifts with grace and wisdom. I'm dedicating a lot of space for this, because I suppose this is what is closest to my heart.

Check out these subpages for more: (Coming soon!)

  • Why 'Animystic'?
  • Why Quakerism?
  • From Church of Christ to United Church of Christ. (They're different)