The ear in my pocket

I have an ear in my pocket. I take it wherever I go.

It mostly knows when I go to sleep, and always when I wake.

It listens - even if somewhat muffled - to all of my conversations.

It pays attention when I travel and always knows the suburb that I'm in, sometimes the street.

It listens to most of my phonecalls and it even reads my texts - even the private ones.

Sometimes I hear it talking in its silent voice and funny language.

I don't know who its talking to, and sometimes I wonder what it says...

if (Faith.query() = true) then Social.setAction(true)

Some fellow called Urs von Balthasar says "spirituality" is,

The way a person understands their own ethically and religiously committed existence, and the way they act and react habitually to this understanding

[male pronouns modified to gender neutral ones by myself]

I like this - ethically and religiously committed existance.

Now, I'm currently doing some readings on the Pietists for BCNZ, and they seem moderately onto it. What I find weird is the question my tutor wants us to answer for the week, "does your faith have a social dimension?"

How does it not?

Prayer, relationships, 'mission', compassion, conversation, persecution, love, justice, anger... they all have an essential social component. So what gives with the question?

I mean, presumably we should slap anybody in the class that answers to the negative, right?
Have I missed something and am I presuming too much? Is this a tautology or have I been caught up in my own little Jesus-as-normative-ethical-standard world for too long and need to wake up and smell the pungent Realpolitik of Christian society?

Theology in Blog-O-Community

A blog is NOT a conversation. It is, by its very nature, one sided.

It is a notice board, a trumpet, a tool.

However, blogs (plural) are a conversation, however distributed.

So as a Christian trying to make my way in the world, figure out what it means to serve Jesus, and blog about it... how do I replicate community on the internet?

Keep track of thousands of blogs?

Make one massive blog and invite all my friends as contributors?

In a sense, perhaps I can!



How about a wikiBlog! Done with a free, Open Source wiki as the core, so ANYBODY can freely contribute IN-COMMUNITY without the pesky necessity of tracking invitations. An OPEN forum! Of course, wikis have their advantages too, such a the ability to post notices and forums in certain sections, and EVEN the ability to sit alongside blogs by individual members of the community. Everyone has an equal voice, everyone has a space for individualism, everyone has a marketplace to share, view, and create ideas.



I GIVE YOU....

Stayed tuned to this space... or, quite possibly, to this space...

Let me know what you think!

groupTH!NK, it's the way Jesus would e-vangelise