Category: God Page 1 of 2

Rethinking the PhD

On October 3, 2026

I have been having some interesting talks with our kids, Kelly and Christian. We are all going through a pretty rough period after leaving a fundamentalist, tradition bound church that was our entire community for decades. We are all about three-four years out from having left and are kind of waking up to the fact that filling the void from leaving with out bitterness is easier said than done. In the meantime, I read a blurb on X from the first ex-wife of Elon Musk, for whom neither of which I have much respect on any level, but that resonated with me. She said that to accomplish something in this life–I took this as the temporal life we live on this earth–a good way to go about it is to become excellent at one discipline, then switch disciplines and become an expert at a second discipline. The focus being on the disciplines themselves and not the money or accolades you receive from dominating those disciplines. I think that was a valuable thought and has definitely been something I think has allowed me to achieve the limited amount of success I have received in my career.

I said all of that to say the following: I was going to ditch the idea of a second PhD. I am having second thoughts. It would be an excellent thing to get a second PhD if I can contribute to the community and dominate a new domain. And when I say dominate a new domain, I have no illusions of being a luminary in that domain, but I do think I can bring skills to bear that might advance the state of the art in several different domains that are worthy of investigation. To that end, I am going to enter into my interview with TAMU on Monday afternoon with renewed vigor. God will provide the guidance.

Whole Bible read #14

By ken

On September 28, 2026

In God

I finished my fourteenth read through the whole Bible today. This time, it was the New King James Version (NKJV). It was my 51st reading since I started keeping track in 2006 and easily one of the most rewarding efforts I have taken. I hope to never stop. 37 of those readings were just the New Testament and I have not been counting the reads Lorena and I have been undertaking. Our first read was the Reina Valera 1960 Spanish version of the New Testament. We are now half way through a read of the whole Bible in that same version I have decided to do a whole NKJV Bible read again because I have not really spent too much time in that version up until now. I really liked it a lot–much more than I expected.

Happy 71^st to me!

By ken

On September 24, 2026

In Family, God, Health

My seventieth year was a spectacular year for me. We spent most of it in Virginia. It was particularly nice to have been able to meet the kids in Washington, D.C. at Kelly’s apartment and for them to easily run down from DC and NYC (Christian) to spend a few days with us. When Kelly moved out of Washington, D.C. we decided to downsize a good bit back in Texas to be a little closer to Grandma Conchita in Monterrey and still be an easy plane flight to connect up with the kids from/to DFW airport.

Lorena and I went on a health kick at the beginning of 2026. Both of us are down a good chunk and are excited to continue down to our target weights, hopefully, God willing, before we move into the new house here in Texas. I personally, have about 30 lbs. to go, need to stay consistent on my weight-lifting, and increase my walking/cardio.

In some ways, I have been going through a late-life crisis trying to figure out what to do with the years I have left. This (new) blog reflects some of that angst. I figured out I did not want really want to do a second PhD, not because it would not have been a rewarding enterprise, but because of the general toxicity and politicization of the higher education around the world. My short term plan (and my long term plans are getting shorter with the years) is to keep working for Thrive Bioscience in the job that I love and continue supporting the GRIME Lab with software over the next few years. Not only can I live with that, I love that I still have a job where I am needed and an avocation that I love.

We are still working on our houses down in San Pedro. That turned into much more of a longitudinal project than we expected, but it is going extremely well. We hope to have a spectacular apartment completed by the end of 2027 that we can visit for a few weeks a time and to which we can invite friends and family to that spectacular city.

Above all, Lorena and are at more peace in our walk with Jesus than ever before. There are so many people who share that with us and we are truly grateful for it.

Never not going to be odd times?

By ken

On September 19, 2026

In God

Our family has been in transition for years now. Over a decade. That we were in transition became much more apparent when COVID hit. For a lot of people in our old church, a big transition took place when depravity in the leadership manifested itself, but for us, it started way earlier than that manifestation. I am grateful to have been reading through the Bible daily with maybe a handful of misses over a twenty year period. It became evident that many around us were more devoted to tradition and willing to use their authority to enforce tradition than they were interested in following Jesus. The realization of that truth, while definitely a phenomena on my radar for a long time, became the elephant in the room when I was forced to evaluate what I was doing and with whom I was doing it. Our move away from that was precipitous. Just one Sunday, I realized I could not follow Jesus and remain a part of a group with the fruits manifested by the authoritarian leadership of the group and the exclusivity and gatekeeping of the group elites in policing who they let in and who they disdained.

We find great joy in being out of that, but even greater joy and gratitude for what it has brought us into. The concept of Christ Alone is engraved in us in a way it could never have been had we not gone through this. Still, and I do not think it is just our big transition and literal epiphany, the world is a very different place than it was 15-20 years ago and appears to be getting stranger and more foreboding by the minute.

GRIME 3 and life choices

By ken

On September 13, 2026

In GaugeCam, God

I spent the entire weekend working on improving the new GRIME 3 water level measurement software so it is usable by a collaborator in Idaho. I think I got it into a workable state, but will have to wait to hear back from Troy at UNL when he gets a chance to test it. It was a good time to reflect on what I want to do next now that I have pretty much kicked the idea of a second PhD to the curb. I am not sure what I will do, but going through the exercise of figuring it out has been healthy for me. I hope to spend the next few weeks avoiding making hard choices and doing more reflecting.

No more PhD’s?

By ken

On September 12, 2026

In Education and scholarship, God

I had a very interesting talk to do with my PhD adviser, Troy. After finding several PhD programs interested in my background and wanting me to participate with them, it started to dawn on me that the bulk of the opportunities available to me were not particularly focused on scholarship, science, and academic camaraderie. Rather, there was what seemed to be a very transactional aspect to the whole enterprise. It became more and more clear that the environment of my department at University of Nebraska was exceptionally benign and well meaning relative to any of these other programs I was evaluating. I was offering 50 years of experience and a proven track record to people who, generally, were only interested in what advantage they could obtain rather than how the community could be served. I am very much less disposed to continue down this path after this discussion and, especially, after my discussions about this whole topic with Troy and my son, Christian who is an MIT research scientist.

I am beginning to think I did this as a result of the great experience I had in community at University of Nebraska after losing the church community of the first 67 years of my life. It turns out that even though the stakes are much lower and do not include eternal life, realizing the community that seemed to provide meaning really never existed in the first place. The thing that I am most thankful for in all this is that it pushed me away from unrealistic expectations about mere human institutions to the only ones that have any meaning–those that are found in Jesus Christ.

A great (but hot) weekend

By ken

On August 30, 2026

In Family, GaugeCam, God

It was at or near 100° Fahrenheit all weekend long, but we had the best and most relaxing weekend in a long time. Saturday morning we ran down to Stephenville to see a little of the very beautiful Tarleton State University campus. Today, after our worship meeting, we ran down to the Kroger grocery store (founded in 1955, the year of my birth) and had a piece of fried chicken–the best in town and way cheaper than a restaurant. After lunch, I drank a couple glasses of Bread and Butter Pinot Noir and worked on the GRIME3 water level measurement software package that now has a couple of places waiting on it in both Nebraska and Idaho. Then I took a nap and now I am waiting for the steak Lorena is cooking for me. Life is good today.

Jesus is the one to follow

By ken

On August 25, 2026

In God

Lorena and I have been talking about how important it is to follow Christ. We have one God, Father, Master and we are not to be called that. It makes me wonder what offices in the church are official. When it talks about apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, is it talking about official positions specific people are to fill in the church with specific tasks or is it talking about abilities and inclinations. One thing that seems more clear all the time is that assuming one of those titles on one’s own authority and assigning authority to one’s self might be a dangerous game to play.

Tradition and fear

By ken

On August 16, 2026

In God

I am currently reading through the minor prophets in the Old Testament. The thing that came to me, a literal epiphany, is how much I have invested in conformance to and association with specific church traditions, not unlike probably the most visible example being the traditions of the Pharisees and the Sadducees in the New Testament. It is like, intellectual, I understood (understand) the concepts and try to practice them, but have given precedence to the traditions of my community over and above those things that God so clearly revealed in scripture. The further I get down this path away from those presume authority authority that is wholly unwarranted to enforce community traditions, the more I realize that it is only those things God demands and Jesus articulated that should hold sway in my life. Finding those of like mind, giving precedence to God, is what will lead Lorena and I into the kind of fellowship God wants for us.

Reading Jeremiah

By ken

On August 2, 2026

In God

It is easy to be judgmental about the people Jeremiah was sent to tell that they would be killed and taken into captivity if they did not repent or just go to Babylon, build houses and live their lives for 70 years because God would then bring them back to Jerusalem. I wonder whether the United States and even the whole world is in that same current state. There seems to be an ever decreasing number of people in our society who hold to Biblical truth and morality. The societal mores of my youth we arguably pretty bad, but they are nothing compared to what they are today in terms of the acceptance of what God clearly delineates as evil throughout the Bible. It is not manifested just in things like theft, false gods, and sexual morality. What is most shocking to me is the enforcement of human tradition and non-Biblical authority even in the church. Of course, I bought into a lot of that through most of my life and I am sure my hands are not clean even now. But it is on my radar now and, by the grace of God, I propose to resist it with every fiber of my being. And exhibit charity while I am doing it.