As a Catholic engineer, I’m obviously drawn to geeky things and Catholic things. When I discovered Thy Geekdom Come on Facebook, I was thrilled to find the perfect blend of both. Now, I am happy to introduce you to the man behind it and share some of the other great things he does.
Tell us a little about yourself.
First, I’m a geek-of-all-trades. Let’s get that clear right from the start. I love learning and knowing and being fascinated with just about everything. I’m also a Catholic husband and father of five. After discerning out of seminary, I got my degree from Franciscan University of Steubenville in theology and catechetics (with a Latin minor). I taught theology for a few years at a college prep school, then worked in Catholic web, graphic, and video media for several EWTN hosts, and now I’m a university instructional technologist/designer. I hope to get back into Catholic education, God willing. With that combination of experiences, I’m really interested in making great media that teaches the faith and makes it attractive.
What inspired you to start Thy Geekdom Come? Is there a story behind the name?
My dad instilled a deep love of puns in me and that’s where Thy Geekdom Come came from. I thought it was a funny spin on the words, but as I thought about it more, it got a deeper meaning. I love the idea of the Incarnation, and that’s why I use the word “Geekdom.” If a geek is defined as a person with intense interest in something, then the Incarnation proves God is a geek for us. And we should be geeks for Him.
What is your vision for Thy Geekdom Come?
Thy Geekdom Come has been an experience in soul-searching, actually. It didn’t start with a definitive vision; I’m honestly not sure it has one now. It was just a place to share the faith and anything geeky I could tie in with the faith. I started using it as a platform for my comics as well. I give the great Catholic cartoonist Jason Bach credit for my interest in that. I always wanted to be an artist when I was a kid and seeing his work rekindled that in me. But if I could give TGC a vision going forward, it would be that I want it to be a celebration of everything geeky that can be turned toward God and help bring others toward God. If it can help my family keep afloat financially, that helps, too.
How do you think geekiness and Catholicism connect?
Oh, I guess I already answered that. But really, how could geekiness and Catholicism not connect? Do we really think there were any saints who weren’t considered geeks for God in their own time? If I’m going to be a saint, I know one thing is for sure: I have to have an intense interest in God.
What inspired you to create these t-shirts?
The first thing I noticed when I heard about Sen. Feinstein’s words to Judge Barrett was their similarity to the old Star Wars line. I made a meme about it and thought of a shirt, but didn’t have time at that moment to plan one out. Later in the day, David Rummelhoff, the founder of Peter’s Square, wrote me about his own idea for a shirt. I’ve done graphic design for him before, so we worked on his together first, then I created mine with the Star Wars twist.
What is your favorite t-shirt that you created?
I love the Star Wars one, but I actually kind of like the one David had me design more. That said, I think my Catholic spoof on the Star Wars resistance logo is a solid one.
What else do you do?
I build Catholic websites. I have witnessed a lot of parishes and ministries getting ripped off by web designers and it bothers me a lot because most web design just isn’t that hard. There are options that designers can use to bring costs way down and a lot of the designers hide that fact and prey on ignorance about web design. The clients think they’re doing all this hand-coding and often they’re just filling in a template. Please find an honest Catholic web designer, even if it’s not me. It’s so important that Catholic organizations aren’t wasting money.
I also draw comics. They are largely experimental, so some are great and some are awful and that’s just what it is. I found a few styles that worked for me. I made one with St. Thomas Aquinas and a dunce student of his that went fairly viral, as far as Catholic scholastic comics can go viral. I was actually told that a professor had stolen my comic and included it in his course materials for Thomistic theology. Ha! I’m not sure whether St. Thomas would approve, but I guess I have to be willing to accept that such things will happen. I suppose it’s a compliment.
My cartoon-style “icons” of saints are a pretty new development. You can have one commissioned or else you can buy a copy of one that has been commissioned already. Keep in mind that this is supplementing my income – and I have 5 kids – so it’s money well spent.
Finally, I’m new to selling online, so my store has just opened. I’m doing pretty well for new. I think we’ve sold maybe a couple dozen t-shirts in less than a week. I’d love for people to share them and help me get more business. If a t-shirt isn’t for you, consider a cartoon icon or a mobile phone wallpaper, and keep an eye on my shop because I’ll be offering a lot more as time goes on. Or request a custom item. That’s always fun.
Where can we follow Thy Geekdom Come?
I’m most active on my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ThyGeekdomCome, and on Twitter, @ThyGeekdomCome. You can reach me there.
Here is his website.
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You can find Micah’s shop on Peter’s Square. If you aren’t familiar with Peter’s Square, it is similar to Etsy but all sellers commit to donating at least 5% of
their proceeds to a charity.
Currently, Micah has a deal going on where if 25 of you purchase one of his t-shirts using the code STUMBLING2017, I’ll get a free shirt.