A Brother Blog 

  
Our blog friend John has started a new blog. Some of you may have known him through “Behind the Mask,” but he said that he didn’t like the name nor could he ever get going with that blog. The new blog is what I’m calling a “brother blog.” Cities have sister cities and ships have sister ships, but since both my blog and his are both run by men, I decided that brother blog was a more appropriate term.

John asked me for suggestions for the name of his new blog. I’ve never been very inventive or much of a wordsmith, though I love plays on words and puns, I’m not good at it. A blog name should speak something about you. The title “The Closet Professor” fit me because I was a teacher and in many rural areas, even high school teachers used to be known as professor. Plus, when I was teaching college, “The Professor” was a nickname some of my friend gave me. While it doesn’t necessarily fit me now, I’m not going to change it. It’s who I am in the blog world and what I will remain for the foreseeable future.

Back to blog names…Some are inventive play on words, such as Michael’s “In Dodd We Trust” or mystery writer Greg Herren’s “Queer and Loathing in America.” Others are pretty straight forward such as “BosGuy” or “daninokc.” Both are simple but effective. Some of them can even use archaic words to give a subtlety to their title, such as one NSFWish pictorial blog about butts I know called “Callipygian Male” (Callipygian meaning “having well-shaped buttocks”) or  another NSFWish blog, “Salmagundi” (Salmagundi means “a general mixture; a miscellaneous collection). As much as I might try, I am just not that clever with words, so my titles have always been boring. However, I have always liked the title “The Closet Professor” and when asked about a blog title, my response was, “Well, you could always be my brother blog and name it ‘The Closet Preacher?'” To my astonishment, John liked the idea.

So my first in what maybe one day will become a family of blogs, “The Closet Preacher” was born. So what is “The Closet Preacher” about? Duh, John is a closeted preacher, lol. But to be more serious, “The Closet Preacher” is a blog where John shares his life and research with the world. He write anonymously, of course, because he is gay and closeted.

Here is what he says in his “About Me” page:

My name is John. I am an ordained minister in the Church of God. I serve a growing congregation in the Southeastern United States, where I was raised. I have preached since I was eighteen years old and I have worked as a youth pastor, associate pastor, and, now, pastor, totaling eight years of experience.

I enjoy cooking, reading, traveling, and visiting historical sites, graveyards, and museums. I am fanatical about Ole Miss Football and Duke Basketball. I frequent small barbecue joints and guzzle very sweet tea. I like midnight driving with the windows down. And, Dave Matthews is my favorite band.

I have known I was gay since middle school and I am proud to be gay. But, I am forced to live deep in the closet, for the moment, because of my vocation.

His first blog post is a beautiful devotional. I hope that you will go check out his blog.