ABSTRACT
This chapter is a biographical account of how upbringing in a tightly bounded Catholic seminary influenced the what, how and why of research on religious worlds. The what is about an understanding of religion as a matter of densely inter-related practices rather than a system of ideas. The how involves a thick engagement with the practices of different religious communities. The why concerns an effort to use research to further a deep dialogue among such communities. All of this has been mediated by a when, a path through time in which early commitments are retained while being expanded and re-interpreted in light of new experiences.
