About Me

A Life Lived in Several Directions at Once

Like Buckaroo Banzai, hero of the cult 1984 sci-fi spoof, I have always been "going in several directions at once." A musician since age five, I played trumpet semi-professionally throughout my adult life while pursuing other careers. After earning a Ph.D. in chemistry and spending two decades researching industrial boiler water systems, I became "Dr. B," a high school chemistry teacher with a knack for turning the periodic table into a spectator sport, all while music kept calling and so, unexpectedly, did the spiritual life.

In my forties, I experienced an awakening that led me first to spiritual direction, then to completing the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises and pursuing an MA in Holistic Spirituality from Chestnut Hill College. Currently in my sixteenth year as a spiritual director drawn especially to the Ignatian Exercises, I accompany people on their spiritual journeys, supervise other directors, and walk with those just starting out as directors.

Now retired from teaching, I devote myself to this ministry, supervision, and writing. My book, The Making of Modern Spiritual Direction (available this summer), explores the field's evolution in the 20th century. As a scientist, musician, and educator, I brought analytical precision, creative imagination, and deep intuition to this work.

When not exploring the depths of the human soul or burrowing through historical archives, I can be found singing in choir, building something in my woodshop, or tending the garden with my wife Sharon.