who knows where I'm headed here

I went to Portland, Oregon toward the end of March to deliver a Conference paper on a Shakespeare character from King Henry IV, Part I. I love almost anything to do with Sir John Falstaff, agreeing with Harold Bloom's assessment that the Fat Knight embodies the divine blessing of life (!) more than any other character in Western literature except Hamlet. I do not necessarily think Bloom's view of the Danish Prince fits, but I think Falstaff does embrace what God offers--even if Bloom wouldn't necessarily use those terms.
My presentation went well and I look forward to perhaps giving something on Falstaff's "opposite," Iago, next year. Opposite not so much in Shakespeare's intention, but using the Hebrew Scripture's categories of Blessing and Curse. These type of discussions--ontological, foundational, root--are why literature matters and can get we scholastic types beyond the "ivory tower" (politely put), "egghead" (not so politely) categorization in so many people outside the University setting. I haven't a clue why seemingly so many apart from the University have tended to view us as "not in the real world" or "unrealistic," except that most of what we do is not easily translated into what I'll call "Uncle Richard" language (a real Uncle of mine who died some years ago). Even people in local congregations want sermons or Bible "studies" that use "their" words as if we native born American academic and theological types with Anglo-Saxon heritage primarily speak something other than English.
We academics can, for the most part, express ourselves well and we do have something to offer public discussion. If, on the other hand, we urge--for one or another reason--"social action," or promote political and economic "liberation," only to then stay inside of our offices, write our Journal articles and attend our many, many Committee meetings, I remain unclear what exactly constitutes the nature of our advocacy. By trying to act "relevantly," we paradoxically tend to increase our distance from those we wish to help. Primarily among these, of course, are the students we encounter and the University support staff who answer our phones. I'm not sure if Falstaff would have tried to promote relevancy (he already was, at least to his fellows in the Boar's Head Tavern), but then again, with his embodiment of the Blessing, he would not have to articulate what he implicitly already understood.