Frank A. Mills
When everything else is stripped away I am, at the core,
a gleaner-teacher-husbandman.
That said, I learn through "hands-on" exploration of Life, and yes, that is
Life with a capital "L." Living Life, I have found that it is not about assuming labels
to describe one's world, political, or theological view. Living Life is about
taking risks and discovering order in the chaos. It is also about faith, having
faith in one's self and the Creator. And although it may sound egotistical,
Living Life is about entering into co-creative acts with the Creator; acts that
create justice, mercy, and humble and simple living. Above all esle, however,
it is about learning to live in the Mystery of the "I Am," the
unknowable/knowable God..
I seek to live without being religious in the narrow of the word, but yet one who strives to religiously live according to my faith perspective. Simply put, I am a person of faith who seeks with trepidation to find meaning and purpose – who seeks to live – within the Borderlands, in those places where veil between this-world and the other becomes thin, where Life meets death, where hell meets heaven, where the battle between all that is good and all that is evil is fought. Ultimately, it is in the Borderlands that I rediscover my God-imaged nature or chose to continue to live in the hell of my own making.
Born in Baltimore, 1943, Frank is the founder of Ideas Matter (1999), an ideation consortium, the forerunner of the planning consortium Urban Paradoxes (2000). Currently his work centers (1)on the understanding, and sustainable utilzation, of space, and (2) the use of the grotesque in art, space, and theology.
Frank previously served as Director of External Affairs at the University of Akron (1995-98), the Interim Director for The National Center for Polymers in Construction (1998), and as faculty at Marylhurst University (1994-2005) where he taught in the departments of Cultural Studies, Religion, and Human Studies/Anthropology. He was the founder and publisher of the Celtic Studies journal, Brigit's Feast. Academically, Frank received honors as a Broadhurst Scholar, during his undergraduate years, and a Byington Fellow while in graduate school.
Frank is also an ordained minister, having ministered several years with urban communities of faith in need of healing and community building.
Frank's essays on Celtic, theological, urban, and gardening subjects have appeared online and in numerous periodicals, and encyclopedias.
Current projects include research in the Philosphy & Theology of Space and the Theology of the Grotesque.