Please
indulge me a bit this time around.
During the year and a half that I have had this blog going I have
revealed little in it about my identity and my personal history, though I have
shared personal views and opinions, mostly in the essays I have posted. Many of you reading are already acquainted
with me and are somewhat familiar with my personal circumstances and background,
but for the benefit of many who are not I wish to share a brief
autobiographical summary and a listing of my beliefs and values. If any of you have further questions
pertaining to who I am or about the beliefs and values I will be listing,
please direct them to bobracine@verizon.net
and I will be happy to answer them and perhaps get to know a few you individual
readers I have not had the privilege of meeting in person.
It was on February 25, 1933
in Norfolk, Virginia, that I, Robert Wayne Racine, arrived in the world, the
only child-to-be of Raymond and Virginia Racine. Growing up in Norfolk I was nurtured in
Central Baptist Church of that city, where I felt the call to the ministry very
early in my life. I graduated from Maury
High School there in January, 1952 and received my Bachelor of Arts degree from
Wake Forest College in 1955 as a pre-ministerial student. My divinity degree came from Crozer
Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania in 1963, after a few years of
experience in the field as a welfare caseworker, and I served as pastor of the
First Baptist Church of Scranton, Pennsylvania from 1963 until 1967. I then accepted a job with Mass Media
Ministries in Baltimore, Md., an interfaith agency designed to serve churches
of all faiths seeking to develop media programs. I worked for them as chief writer and
assistant editor on their bi-weekly Newsletter publication, reviewing short
films, TV and current cinema. I also
conducted seminars on media usage, wrote promotional fliers and gave personal
consultation to people in church-related professions on the planning of media
programs.
In 1974 I moved to
Columbia, Maryland, where I have resided ever since. Following the discontinuance of the Mass
Media Newsletter in 1980, I became involved in community theater, organizing my
own in conjunction with Kittamaqundi Community, an ecumenical church body in
that city. The theater remained in
operation for twenty-two years. In that
endeavor I got training in acting, directing, and producing, and in 1988 began
writing scripts, several of which have been performed in public, one for the
annual Baltimore New Playwrights Festival.
In recent years, since the retirement of the theater, I have segued from
script writing into fiction writing. A
novella, “It Won’t Fit Through the Door,” remains available on compact
disc. “All Saints Eve” is my first full
length novel still seeking publication. I
have also written over the space of the last forty years a considerable body of
poetry, and at varied times and on varied occasions have given public
recitations of them. Some of them have
already appeared in this blog.
I seem to have always worn
two hats throughout my adult life – religion and the arts. Almost all I have done over the past half
century has involved participation in both worlds. And now the early profession of film critic
that I practiced in association with Mass Media Ministries, cut short by the
onset of a severe hearing loss, has found a soul-gratifying rebirth in the
reviewing of motion pictures on DVD on this blog, along with other
writings. The word processor now has become
my new stage as well as my new printed page, thanks to the brilliant assistance
of my stepson JC Nolan, to whom I will be eternally grateful.
I have been married to my
third wife, Ruby, since 1981. An elementary school teacher for close to thirty
years (retired in 1996), she is the supreme love of my life and has been a
magnificent support to me in all my endeavors since we met. We reside in Columbia. We have seven offspring between us from
previous marriages and eight grandchildren.
Though now in our latter years, we remain very active in the
Kittamaqundi congregation and share in its leadership and work.
The following is a list of
what I regard as my personal beliefs and values, to which I hold myself
personally accountable:
Biblical writings as a
repository of moral, ethical and spiritual instruction
The existence of God both
as unfathomable mystery and redeeming presence
The perseverance of faith,
both as outlook and practice
A spiritual community that
is supportive and nurturing
Diversity of expression
within a unity of faith sharing
Integrity and wholeness of
character
Personal discipline in all
domains as opposed to off-the-wall lifestyles
The dignity of work
Scrupulous care of one’s
own body as indeed the Temple of God
Equally scrupulous care of
the planet Earth as the bosom mother of us all
The sanctity of all living
creatures
The unique giftedness of
each and every human individual
The
loving family as the foundation of civilized society
A creative fusion between
religion and the arts
Music and poetry as the
language of God and food for the soul
The preservation and study
of sacred and classic writings
Friendship that sets no
boundaries and imposes no obligations
Patience and kindness
Humility of spirit
Unbounded and unqualified
forgiveness, both of self and others
And basic to all:
Love as a verb, not a noun,
which is to say aggressive good will in
action,
compassionate service to
others, selfless labors to lighten each other’s burdens, and active commitment
to the ongoing liberation of the human spirit
To read other entries in my
blog, please consult its website:
enspiritus.blogspot.com
I welcome feedback. Direct it to bobracine@verizon.net
Great biography. My father was born within two weeks of you on March 9, 1933 in Worcester, Mass. Very impressed that you are so technologically savvy and have such a vibrant attitude. I found your blog via your Grisham review (which I'm also going to comment upon) but wanted to give you kudos here for your resume.
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