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Acknowledgments
Fractured Dance
First in line to
receive thanks for my having reached this point can be
none other than Joan K. King, love of my life and partner
in our shared juggling of parenting, homemaking,
schooling, careers. She had faith I was smart those
countless days I was sure I was stupid—and reminded
me I was dumber than I thought those rarer days I
believed I was smarter than I was.
I remember reading,
long before I was a father, author acknowledgments of
torments their children had suffered. Now I too
understand. Thereby the parent says, “Oh, now I
remember who you are; do you remember me? Will you have
me back?” Kristy, Katie, and Rachael surely did live
through too many weeks of “I’m sorry I’ve
been so distracted by my writing,” and “After I
get through this stage I’ll make you real suppers
again.” Candidly and repeatedly they described my
scholarly personality as “Very grumpy.”
Happily, after I
finished the dissertation that undergirds this book they
did let me return. I’ll never forget the day. Katie
and Rachael brought me a cake they had spent four hours
making which said, “Congrats this far, Dad.”
Later that day, Kristy made supper as a gesture of
support. With interest I wait to learn whether someday
they in turn will all write books or flee screaming from
the terrors they have observed. In the meantime I cherish
the many times, as their minds grow ever keener, that we
sit around the supper table or in the family room
wrestling with issues such as this book addresses, and
learn from each other perhaps even more than we ever can
from books what it means truly to talk and listen and
grow.
Members of my Temple
dissertation committee deserve mention. I owe a
tremendous debt to these veterans of the dissertation
process who understood so much better than I, the
apprentice, why early dissertation proposals were
unworkable.
More specifically, I
owe much to Herbert W. Simons, my adviser from beginning
to end. Without Herb’s rich and exotic blend of
support alternating with pointed and perceptive
criticism, I would never have made it through my course
work, much less the dissertation from which this book has
emerged. Arabella Lyon introduced me to Gadamer, warts
and beauty both. Though she deserves no blame if I came
to appreciate Gadamer perhaps even more than she might
wish, without her, my passion for philosophical
hermeneutics would not have flourished. Anita Pomerantz
patiently and painstakingly helped me to see how many
devils were in the details and to exorcise as many as I
had the wit, with her help, to discern. Each will
recognize in this book, imperfect though it remains, the
many points where I am indebted to their feedback. My
thanks also to David Watt, fourth reader, who responded
with warm wit and provocative questions to a semi-final
draft.
I am grateful to
Germantown Mennonite Church and to Franconia Conference
for suffering (perhaps uneasily, in which case I do not
blame them) my observation of the conversations that
became my case study. I hope they find scattered through
these pages evidence their difficult journey has
contributed to my own quest for ways those who disagree
may still experience with each other at least a fractured
dance.
As mentioned in the
preface, I owe special thanks to J. Denny Weaver, C.
Henry Smith Series Editor. I am grateful for the
exceptionally careful, detailed, insightful reading he
gave the manuscript. In addition, Denny oversaw the blind
peer review which generated another round of revision
suggestions but whose author(s) remain unknown to me.
When I submitted the manuscript to the series, I hoped if
it were accepted I would receive at least modest help
shoring up weak points, but I received considerably more
direction than I anticipated. At a few points perhaps it
was even more than I bargained for, not because
inappropriate but because demanding, yet from this
vantage point I am thankful for all aspects of the
feedback, including the demanding ones, since I at least
am convinced that they have much improved the book.
I appreciate as well
the support provided by Paul M. Schrock, my Herald Press
mentor and supervisor during the years I was working on
my Ph.D. Paul graciously worked out a job sharing
arrangement whereby David Graybill, also on staff at the
time, increased or decreased his work load to allow my
editing work for Herald Press to rise or decline based on
whether classes were in session at Temple University.
Finally I honor my
parents, Aaron and Betty King. If at times, following
Gadamer, I have had to understand my tradition
differently to understand it at all, without them there
would have been nothing passed down to understand.
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