Steve Durham's Page

About Me:

First, the profile picture over to the left somewhere is of my granddaughter Grace and me at a nearby children's museum. She's face-painting us both; I'm trying to act dignified LOL.

I'm a Presbyterian minister currently serving a very small, elderly congregation in Chicago. If you're familiar with Chicago, we are located in the northwest part of the city, not far south of the suburb of Skokie.

I first learned about Amida Trust through my participation in a Christian-Buddhist dialogue group at Yahoo.com. Dharmavidya also posted there occasionally, and through him I first began to learn about -- and quickly became very powerfully drawn to -- Pure Land Buddhism. At his invitation, I began posting occasional pieces on the Amida interfaith dialogue page; and not long afterwards was invited to participate in the Ministry program as a distance learner.

Unfortunately, my small congregation has had -- and continues to have -- enormous problems, including a sizeable embezzlement that was discovered not long after I first began my service here. Time and again these problems have quickly swollen into "tsunamis" ("theo-tsunamis"? ... hmmmm, a sermon idea there!) ... and have emotionally and spiritually exhausted me, having consumed so much of my time that I not only have been far too absent from my own family (about which more in a moment) but from Ministry studies.

I finally re-joined the Ministry program in February, but by the end of March once again was inundated with problems here that devour almost all of my time. It is beyond wearying.

My wife Jan is a nurse who directs admissions at a hospice in Chicago, has her own patient load, and also directs the hospice's "alternative therapies" program. The latter include acupuncture, massage therapy, music therapy, art therapy, and any number of other allied practices that a hospice patient and/or family member may request.

We have three grown "boys." Jacob is our oldest. He is a pilot (small single-engine planes so far, although ready to move to larger engines and aircraft), gives private lessons as well as teaches in the flight school at Oklahoma State University, and was scheduled to begin as a pilot with a regional carrier (part of Continental Airlines) until the sudden downturn in the economy here led to all airlines releasing employees (pilots included) and largely putting on a hiring freeze. He lives with his family (including Grace, age 5 1/2, and her 2-year-old brother Aidan) in rural southeastern Oklahoma.

Our 2nd, Ben, teaches high school physics in Chicago and lives not far from us in Evanston. He is still single, although would love to be a dad. Ben is a terrific writer.

Our youngest, Noah, is engaged to be married late this year and who lives with us (basement apartment), with his fiance and her 2 young girls from a previous marriage. Noah will return to college soon -- after a 2-year absence while he just enjoyed working at nearby Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Business -- where he plans to major in engineering (I'm not sure yet what kind).

Of the 3, Ben is spiritually the most like me, and most interested -- such as it is at this point -- in Buddhism. Jan most likely would convert to Roman Catholicism if I weren't engaged in Presbyterian ministry.

Personally, I read voraciously (mostly in spirituality, biblical studies, some history and fiction, occasional poetry); and I love to write. I wrote a longish piece of historical fiction about 10 years ago, and 2 publishers immediately wanted to read the entire manuscript (I don't have an agent either!) ... I submitted it finally to the University of Oklahoma Press, since the historical event on which the novel is based took place in Tulsa in 1921 ... and while they rejected it, they did so with strong suggestions about how to handle a rewrite, and said they would be happy to read it again if I rewrote it. I know enough about the publishing biz to know that's an excellent sign ... but then again, I also serve this dysfunctional crisis-ridden aggravating little church, you see, and ...

Evanston, Illinois -- where we have lived for the past 20 years -- is home to a number of Buddhist groups. One of these, actually located in Chicago but with a "branch" in Evanston, is known as the Heartland Sangha. They meet on the 1st and 3rd Saturday mornings of each month -- unfortunately, my Saturdays often are exceeded in chaos only by my Sundays -- and, not nearly as often as I'd like, I join them for services. They know the Braziers from previous visits here, and it is one way for me to stay indirectly "active" with you all ... but only indirectly, and so far only occasionally.

But someday, possibly soon, I'll get back to the writing. And for the moment, that's who I am, sort of ...

Amida Membership

Would like to be a member

Faith Background & Affiliation

Christian (Presbyterian)

Occupation or Primary Activity

clergy

Involvement in Spirituality/Religion

Parish minister, although about to move out into "specialized ministry" of some as-yet unknown kind ... e.g. social service, freelance writing, etc.

What is your interest in Amida Trust

I want to learn as much as possible about Pure Land Buddhism, with special interest thus far in Jodo Shinshu; and it isn't impossible that some day I might consider ordination.

What country are you living in?

United States

What is the nearest town to where you live? If in UK, please give first half of your postcode. Thank you.

Chicago

Are you a member of an Amida group/Congregation

Would like a group in my area

Have you visited

None of these

What can you offer to other members of this network?

A place to stay, Guide, Expertise

What other interests do you have, eg Arts, Gardening and so on.

Reading, movies (DVD rentals, which I watch fanatically), physical exercise, cave exploring (none recently; probably will return to it after retirement), writing (esp. fiction).