Welcome to my home page
Since I was six-years-old, I've been asking questions--not always clearly, not always politely. My education in philosophy and psychology has helped me better focus those questions; family, friends, and critics have helped me smooth off rough edges. My current questions focus on wisdom—what it is, how it’s developed, and how it fits with coping. I live in Edmonds, Washington and divide my time into writing, speaking, and enjoying the company of my wife, Jean.
As a psychologist, I worked with individuals and couples for over 30 years helping them look at themselves. Along the way, I like to think I profited from my own therapy. On retiring from clinical work, I turned the searchlight of reflection inward. Eventually, this resulted in Faith, Doubt, Mystery: A Catholic Journey.
As a psychologist, I worked with individuals and couples for over 30 years helping them look at themselves. Along the way, I like to think I profited from my own therapy. On retiring from clinical work, I turned the searchlight of reflection inward. Eventually, this resulted in Faith, Doubt, Mystery: A Catholic Journey.
Beginning with my early years as a Catholic, I reflected and wrote as honestly as I could, presenting scenes as they were lived. How, for example, serious illness imprinted death on my six-year-old mind and fostered a keen awareness of spiritual death that would become a key element in my Catholic journey. To check my accuracy, I talked with my brother (the only other survivor of our four-person family), with school classmates, and with current and former Jesuits who had been with me in the Order. I combed the Jesuit archives at Gonzaga University, where I unearthed daily logs I had written almost 50 years before as a Jesuit seminarian. The resulting memoir uncovered a coming-of-age story that surprised even me.
While different now from the Catholic I was, I am grateful for the wisdom Catholicism provided. I hope that my family, Catholics in and out of the Church, and those unclear about where life is taking them will find something here that will help them on their own spiritual quest.
While different now from the Catholic I was, I am grateful for the wisdom Catholicism provided. I hope that my family, Catholics in and out of the Church, and those unclear about where life is taking them will find something here that will help them on their own spiritual quest.
James J. Tracy