User:CircularReason

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Hi, my online alias is CircularReason because Parmenides points out that the One, which is the most reasonable thing of all, is like a sphere.

I'm a 27 year-old graduate student from Orange County, California (just outside Los Angeles). I grew up in the Vineyard Christian Fellowship under the pastoral guidance of John Wimber but left shortly after his death, when I had become disillusioned with the music-centered worship-style and the general ethos of the third-wave charismatic movement. I ended up visiting an Episcopalian church for several years (this was before the height of the homosexuality horrors), and God's grace finally lead me to the Ancient Faith. As a spiritual seeker, I got into transcendental meditation, investing heavily in the kind of American meditation taught by Herbert Benson M.D., and the likes of John Main and Thomas Keating -- all the best elements of which are inherent to the Orthodox tradition.

I studied History and Philosophy in a Great Books program at Biola University, and am now pursuing a Master's degree in Applied Orthodox Theology from St. Stephen's seminary in New Jersey. Meanwhile I teach high school (if leading Socratic discussions may be called "teaching"), write, mentor students for Wheatstone Academy, blog, and manage a formal Socratic book club for Christians of all denominations.

As a classically educated fellow, I lean heavily on old books as a reliable source of wisdom, and I trust in the patient, careful, intelligent conversation to chip away my false opinions and lead me towards the truth.