spirituality of blogging

Here are some notes from the session at Greenbelt by Andrew Jones on the Spirituality of Blogging.

Andrew started of with a variety of thoughts around the subject of blogging....before moving on to ten or eleven 'points' about the spirituality of blogging.....

We are undergoing a second renaissance. Readers are becoming writers. Consumers are becoming producers/co-creators.

We can access information freely and quickly from the huge database of information we are currently contributing to. This database will continue to be accessed (in some form, by whatever means) for years to come.

Athanasius, writing in the 4th century, wrote about the accountability which can be developed through regular writing. (Andrew has blogged about this here).

Apparently a new blog is started every two seconds.

We know more than our Pastors.
Bloggers are the vanguard of the participatory church.
We are seeing the rise of a new kind of preacher, whose methods work both inside and outside of traditional church structures.
(Tim Bednar)

Why blog?
to participate, it's in the 1st person, it's a discipline, to preach, to earn permission, care, to build the Kingdom

1. To blog is to find yourself in a place of PRAISE
Praise meaning to publically acknowledging.
Publish our glad tidings daily....

2. To blog is to find yourself in a place of ACCOUNTABILITY
Athanasius stuff
Eph 5:21
Is blogging more accountable than writing books, in that we have the opportunity to repent?

3. To blog is to find yourself in a place of VULNERABILITY
Blogging gives people a window to your life.
A challenge to open up our lives...

4. To blog is to find yourself in a place of GIVING
The blogosphere operates on a gift economy.
Gain reputation not remuneration (Google ratings etc)
A good name is better than riches (Proverbs)
Freely you have recieved, freely you give.
Yeast - building things up, not puffing up
To blog = to give away

5. To blog is to find yourself in a place of CREATIVE NAMING
Just like Adam in the garden, it is in the blogosphere where ideas rise up, concepts are being named....

6. To blog is to find yourself in a place of REPENTANCE
(see the ACCOUNTABILITY stuff)

7. To blog is to find yourself in a place of FELLOWSHIP
Hyperlinks - one of the greatest inventions of our time???
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Linking to one another, as our stories become intertwined we have a responsibility to care for one another

8. To blog is to find yourself in a place of EVANGELISM
Showing, sharing the whole of our lives....

9. To blog is to find yourself in a place of INTEGRITY
Where our writing matches our speaking
Informality - in the physical world we use facial expressions, tone of voice, body lanugage etc., in the virtual world we are beginning to find other methods to informalise eg. smileys, .....s, erms, uncorrected typos.
When we comment on other peoples blogs we must assign our own place, other people do not know who we are, with what authority we speak etc. But we must remember to take the lesser place at the table
In what way does the appearance of our blog reflect who we are, where we are at (messy + untidy, neat + tidy)???

10. To blog is to find yourself in a place of WATCHFULNESS
Spiritual discipline of watching and praying
Watching out for one another, covering people's backs...

11. To blog is to find yourself in a place of POSTERITY
To store and guard the things of God
Permanence, part of the database
We are historians, journalists...

Andrew finished the session with the Blogger's Prayer (also on his own old site)

Control your own stories + Be found...

greenbelt2005

Update Andrew has added his own notes here, along with links to other people who have blogged about the session.

back from greenbelt

After a rather hot, slow and slightly smelly coach journey, I got back from a great weekend at Greenbelt.

Overall I had a really good time, even though I might have tired myself out trying to cram in a bit too much. Heard some great speakers (more on them in future posts), listened to some great music, laughed/cringed at some brilliant comedy, 'did' worship in a number of different styles, caught up with some old friends and met some new people as well.

At this point I'm aware just how many hyperlinks I could list, but I'm not gonna do that now. It would be dull. Instead I'll break my musings down into more posts, which will appear in due course......

whale rider

Just watched Whale Rider. I saw it going cheap in Tesco this evening, and thought it was worth the few pounds they were asking.

I remember Jonny Baker writing a post about this film some time ago. As he, and others say, the film raises a number of questions about the way in which communities pass on their traditions from one generation to the next, especially in a changing context.

If you've not seen it, it's well worth a watch.

this week

This week I am working in our local secondary school - Abbeydale Grange. I'm helping out at a summer school for young people who will be starting Year 7 in September. It's pretty cool actually, getting to play, i mean work, with computers and digital video cameras (the school has Specialist Media Arts Status). The young people are making their own music videos which will be entered into the BOOM! Music Video Awards.

The BOOM! Music Video Academy is something run by MTV and Adobe. It supports teachers as they encourage young people to develop their creative skills. It seems pretty cool.

Then on Friday I'm off to Greenbelt for the weekend. It's going to be a long week, and I'm looking forward to next Wednesday when hopefully I will get a day off.

how taize changed the church

A really good article continuing to reflect on the life and work of Brother Roger.

greenbelt

I've finally got myself in gear and have just booked my Greenbelt ticket.

I'm actually quite excited. I wonder to what extent my emotions have been affected by the fact that Colin and Edith have just played the theme tune to Baywatch. Anyway.

Tag greenbelt2005

what classic movie are you?

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

So I've never actually watched this film. But apparently its a film on which the 2002 Adam Sandler film Mr Deeds is based. This happens to be one of may favourite films. It's somewhere in my top 10 (don't ask what the other 9 are - I'm not sure yet).

what famous leader are you?

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Which is nice for me. Obviously a personality test comprising just nine questions is not the most accurate thing in the world. But interestingly, I do share the same Myers-Briggs personality type as Gandhi. Maybe the test is accurate after all.....

endings and beginnings

I wasn't really sure what to post when I heard the sad news about Brother Roger, so as you will notice, I just posted a couple of news reports.

Having had some time to reflect on what happened, I find myself experienceing a mix of emotions. Obviously there was a certain amount of shock and sadness on hearing of the way in which Brother Roger died, and the very fact that he had died. But in all honesty, I think people, including Brother Roger, were prepared for him to die. He was ninety, and although he was continuing to play his role within the Taize community, he was a frail man, who knew that his time on earth was coming to an end.

This year was my first at Taize, and what I witnessed this year was incredible. People come together at Taize, from all over the world, representing different denominations, different faiths, or even no faith at all. And in spite of all these differences, people live, work and reflect together as a community, serving one another, and serving God.

Brother Roger no longer heads up that community here on earth, but the spirit in which he founded and led the community lives on, a spirit of peace, harmony and simplicity. There is much to be learnt from the way Taize operates, much that we as individuals, communities and societies as a whole could learn. I for one am very glad, that this example of living together as a peaceful and simple community will carry on under the leadership of Brother Alois, Brother Roger's appointed successor. My prayers are with him, and with all the members of the Taize community.

a peculiar species

This evening I have once more been reminded of the peculiarities of the human race.
Now some people will now that I have a fondness for supermarkets. I know that I shouldn't. But I do. This evening I popped down to Tesco to buy some dates and some chocolate. Originally I had wanted bananas, but they'd sold out. Anyway. I was in the queue waiting to pay, when I noticed something of a disagreement in the queue ahead of me. Withing seconds, two fifty something year-old men were threatening to knock each other out. As the men came in my direction, I instinctively tried to restrain one of the men, while thankfully, another passer-by restrained the other guy.

Now I'm not trying to make myself out to be some sort of a hero - I just followed my instincts. I've broken up a few fights in my time, thats to be expected as a youth worker. But I have to admit I've never stood between two feuding fifty year olds. It really was rather strange.

I later found out that this whole fiasco had been caused by one of the men passing comment on how long the other was taking to pack and pay for his and his wife's shopping. I mean really, come on. Does it matter? Your fifty, but you're acting like you're fifteen.

On arriving home, I found myself watching a rather bizarre programme called A Week of Dressing Dangerously. Basically, some fashion expert, forced a housewife and mother of two, to parade around her local community in a range of ridiculous fashion disasters, culminating in a bunny girl outfit.

The point of this programme, as far as I could tell, was to help this poor woman learn something about herself and who she is, by reflecting on the fact that wearing different clothes caused her to act differently in a range of everyday situations. Wearing these different clothes 'liberated' her and helped her explore certain hidden aspects of her personality.

I don't want to go into the pschology of the programme, because I don't know an awful lot about psychology. But this programme intrigued me. Not only did it make me cringe every other minute, it also got me wondering about where people find there identity. It showed just how much this woman's behaviour changed depending on what she was wearing. It was almost as though the clothes she wore defined who she was and how she behaved.

Now I know that many people like to express their identity in the clothes they choose to wear, but I have a confession to make. I found it more than a little disturbing that this programme seemed to preach so blatently that your identity is defined solely by what you wear.

As I reflect on the events of this evening, I realise once again, that us humans are a funny lot.