James Krueger | Priest, Husband, Homesteader, Writer, Songwriter
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  • James’ poetry comes from a connection between the landscapes and the seasons of the northeast. The emotion and spirit of James’ music is touching.

    - Jay Ungar, noted American fiddler, composer, and folklorist

  • An extraordinarily talented writer with a real talent for poetic imagery. Impressive poetic lines, beautiful and original. Remarkable work!

    - Judges' comments, Great American Song Contest

  • Krueger’s probing book is provocative and in good ways, in ways that can stimulate thought, push readers outside assumed categories, and, best of all, encourage readers to imagine a future better than our present.

    - Eric T. Freyfogle, noted environmental author, lawyer, and commentator

  • What a respectful reader soon perceives is that Krueger is an original and forceful moralist.

    - Eric T. Freyfogle, noted environmental author, lawyer, and commentator

  • Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bonds. As long, therefore, as they can find employment in this line, I would not convert them into mariners, artisans, or anything else.

    - Thomas Jefferson to John Jay, 1785

  • Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and the two become one flesh.

    - Genesis 2:24

  • For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

    - Hebrews 5:1

Priest

ON the Feast of Saint Basil the Great (June 14), 2014, I was ordained to the sacred priesthood. I serve as Priest in Charge of Saint James Church Lake Delaware in the northwestern Catskill Mountains of New York State, and am founder of Mons Nubifer Sanctus. Mons Nubifer Sanctus (Holy Cloud-Bearing Mountain) is a Christian spiritual retreat center offering a quasi-monastic training in contemplative prayer geared towards the needs of householders living and working in the world. I blog regularly on the Mons Nubifer Sanctus website, where there is also a listing of our programs and upcoming retreats.

Husband

ON June 22, 2013, I married my beloved fiancee and friend Maureen Heffernan-Nagy. Together we make our way through this life, growing older and closer with the years. As a young man, I was once somewhat flippant about marriage, but that was my own weakness. Marriage takes incredible strength and maturity, and though the stakes are high indeed, learning to love authentically is its own reward. My gratitude for Maureen, who daily teaches me love, runs deep.

Homesteader

CONCERNED about the social and environmental degradation associated with contemporary American lifestyles, hearing the Gospel call to humility of life, desirous of meaningful labor with palpable rewards, and enjoying a genuine intimacy with nature, Maureen and I are establishing a small farmstead in our beloved Catskill Mountains. Located in Delaware County, New York, and backed by over 2,500 acres of public land preserve, the lovely 12 acres given to our care is shared with deer, turkeys, bobcat, coyotes, and bear. Over the past two years, we have planted over 60 fruit and nut trees, are building a small community house with off-the-grid guest cabins, and are revitalizing old pasture for new ruminants. Though the work has been gargantuan, especially now in the establishment stage, our goals are relatively simple: to grow the bulk of our own food with a small surplus to share with neighbors, friends, and buyers.

Author

THOUGH I am shy and have often been called a quiet mumbler, I have always loved words. The attraction was likely passed along by my parents: my father was an elementary school principal with a Master’s in English, and my mother a second grade teacher. My own school career until college was rather dismal. Despite their frustration with my role as class clown, however, my teachers early on encouraged in me a knack for writing, but it would be my wife, the consummate editor, who would convince me of the merits of proper grammar and spelling. For much of my adult life my writing has been focused on poetry and song lyrics. In recent years, however, I have been moved to take up some of the pressing issues of our day in the more rational and linear form of the essay. Though poems and essays of mine have been published in various periodicals, The Disfiguration of Nature is my first full-length book. It is published by Wipf and Stock in Eugene, OR.

Songwriter

I BEGAN writing and performing my own music at age 15, and recorded my first professional demos at 16 with The Institute of Sound (IOS), a great specimen of the high school garage band. My big brother, Tom, was the lead singer, and we (our spouses, mostly) still like to replay the old video tapes of rehearsals in the basement, mostly for the rich material it offers for a good taunt. At age 19, I moved to the big city with a new solo EP to my name and dreams of making it big. I now have six full-length albums, one of which has never been publicly released. Over the years, my aspirations have substantially changed, and some of the material on these albums is as embarrassing as those old video tapes. Nevertheless, music remains a friend of mine, and for what it’s worth you can listen to some of this material and purchase CDs on the Shop page of this site.

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