Introducing Letters from the Edge of Elfland

Last updated on: June 10, 2016 at 5:06 pm by David Russell Mosley

Introducing Letters from the Edge of Elfland 2016-06-10T17:06:38-04:00 David Russell Mosley

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David Russell Mosley

Ordinary Time
10 June 2016
The Edge of Elfland
Hudson, New Hampshire

Dear Readers,

This is something of an awkward letter for me to write. On the one hand, many of you are already familiar with me. Perhaps you’ve followed these letters since they were called Letters from Nottingham (or even earlier days when this blog was called Christianity and Virtue). Whatever the case, you are already familiar with me and the kind of letters I write. On the other hand, many of you will be new readers since I have moved to Patheos Catholic and so, I thought perhaps it might be good to give a short introduction to myself and to the blog.

As to myself, my name is David Russell Mosley. I am a husband, to my wife, Lauren, of 8 years; and I am father to twin boys Theodore Nicholas George and Edwyn Arthur Russell. You can learn more about their names here. I have a PhD in theology from the University of Nottingham (where I was supervised by Simon Oliver who is now Van Mildert Professor of Divinity in the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Durham, and Mary Cunningham who is Honorary Associate Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Nottingham). My research at the University of Nottingham focused on the importance of deification for Christian theology and the place of human creativity, particularly poetry and fantasy, in our deification. This thesis will be published under the title of Being Deified: Poetry and Fantasy on the Path to God by Fortress Press later this year. My theological interests are broad: patristics, medieval theology, liturgy, sacramentology, Trinitarian theology, theology of creation, and more. Currently I teach part-time, and online, for Johnson University where I teach a course on Trinitarian Theology and the Fundamentals of the Christian Faith. I also write some fiction and poetry (some of which I have posted here. My book On the Edge of Elfland will be coming out with Wipf and Stock press later this year as well.

As my interests are so broad so, often, is the content of these letters. I write on the importance of liturgy, poetry/fiction, the Inklings, Radical Orthodoxy, theology, contemporary events, the importance of handwriting letters, and more. Often, I write responses to things I’ve read, whether I want to share a new book that I’ve loved, or I want to provide my own opinion or feelings on a subject shared by other websites/bloggers.

I don’t really consider myself a blogger. That’s why I write these “posts” as letters. I am trying to invite real conversation. I see myself as a correspondent, one, on the edge of Elfland wanting to communicate what I’ve seen and heard and hear back from you my fellow travelers. So, I’m grateful to Sam Rocha for this opportunity to write these letters to you through the Patheos Catholic Channel. I look forward to getting to know my fellow authors here at Patheos Catholic and hope that I contribute something of real substance. I have attempted to describe this “blog” to you, but perhaps the best way I can characterize it is to say this: It is my desire to chronicle my own attempts––and therefore prayerfully aid in yours––at seeing through the mist, at seeing Faërie, at seeing that deeper reality that stands behind and upholds our own. In short, this is an effort to see as I am seen and to help you do the same. I make no particular claims to holiness, I know myself far too well for that. But I have been blessed to see things on occasion and I have learned much, even if I cannot always put it into practice. So, I hope to share a bit of myself and my mission to remythologize, to venture into holy places, to see creation as sacramental. I hope you’ll join me.

Sincerely,
David

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