I haven't posted raw facts for awhile, mostly because I've been in a sort of neutral gear. Not that things haven't been moving, but the motor hasn't been revved for any hills or rises. That's good for me, I think-- as a person who loves to work and strive and get over the next hill and around the next bend. As I putter along in the quiet of a stalled engine, God does astounding, wonderful things.
1. Funding. Wondrously, miraculously arrived at 93% funded. Because nearly half of that came in one-time cash gifts that will parse out to see me through part of the year, I know that I'm nowhere close to being able to put up my feet and call it done, but it's still a fantastic thing to see. Particularly because it gives me the go-ahead to...
2. MOVE! I have begun looking at maps and routes, and the current plan is to start driving right before New Year's, attend a dear friend's wedding in Texas, and roll into San Diego in the first week of January.
3. And I will live in City Heights! Thanks be to God, I have a place to live confirmed, with 2 housemates who've been living there for awhile (both women who work for InterVarsity in community colleges, who have also been on the Global Urban Trek-- fun connections). The short version of the story is that a friend connected us in August, knowing that I was getting ready to come to San Diego... at some point. Unfortunately, I had to keep pushing back my relocation date as I continued to raise support. In October, I gave up trying to hold on to this living situation and assumed I was back to square one. Along came the end of November, the plan to move SOON, and the need to find housing. I began asking around again, and the room was still available! Hooray! The landlord hadn't charged rent on that room, simply praying that "the right person would come along to fill it."
What peace-filled, wonderful gifts. Many, many answers to prayer are woven through all the developments of the past few weeks, and I give thanks and praise to the God who is the author and giver of all good things.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Keeping Facebook
Great to hear from several folks in reaction to the last post in criticism of Facebook and similar media. To confirm my flip-flopping non-alignment with the previous post-er =), here I'll share a Twitter bit in favor of using social media for the good of the gospel (thanks to Hannah for sending this to me!). John Piper puts it eloquently:
I think of that often in these fierce musings about whether we twitter or blog or call or email or send a status update. I love the image of Paul with a cell phone, perhaps angrily pacing around while on the line with Corinth. But it's true! Paul thought it was vitally important to be in touch with the people he loved and the churches he had invested in. As a man of integrity, he did what he could to minister to them over distances and through his sufferings. Likewise, sorting through our menu of social outlets, will [facebook/ blackberry/ twitter/ etc.] advance our work and mission, or will it drag us down? It's closely linked to questions of what it means to choose to live simply-- and to what end? That's a much bigger discussion!
In the meantime, I'm content to do what I can, reaching people how I can-- with a patchwork of facebook and email, phone calls and meetings, skypes and texts and good old fashioned cards every now and then. Be well, do good work, and keep in touch [by whatever means necessary]!
Yes, there is truth in all of that, but instead of boycotting, try to fill these media with as much provocative, reasonable, Bible-saturated, prayerful, relational, Christ-exalting, truth-driven, serious, creative pointers to true greatness as you can.I agree with Piper that not everyone is called to that-- it's for each person to work out how they will glorify God. Not all of us should write books (or blogs!), any more than all of us should preach - or build buildings - or tend the sick - and so on. I'll admit that some days when I log into facebook, my thoughts are centered on what a random person would perceive about me: what do my pictures and posts and interests and quotes say about me? Those are days I'm not proud of; those are days I'd be better off writing a letter! My hope is that the corrective is discipline, rather than amputation. It's a discipline-- and a joy-- to exalt Christ and express love to my friends and acquaintances through various media. I fondly think of a friend who, in reference to Christian responses to proliferating technologies, said that it seemed plausible that Jesus would have used a cell phone for its advantages-- and the Apostle Paul definitely would.
I think of that often in these fierce musings about whether we twitter or blog or call or email or send a status update. I love the image of Paul with a cell phone, perhaps angrily pacing around while on the line with Corinth. But it's true! Paul thought it was vitally important to be in touch with the people he loved and the churches he had invested in. As a man of integrity, he did what he could to minister to them over distances and through his sufferings. Likewise, sorting through our menu of social outlets, will [facebook/ blackberry/ twitter/ etc.] advance our work and mission, or will it drag us down? It's closely linked to questions of what it means to choose to live simply-- and to what end? That's a much bigger discussion!
In the meantime, I'm content to do what I can, reaching people how I can-- with a patchwork of facebook and email, phone calls and meetings, skypes and texts and good old fashioned cards every now and then. Be well, do good work, and keep in touch [by whatever means necessary]!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Leaving Facebook?
In the immortal words of Fiddler on the Roof-- "Unheard of! Absurd!" But in reality, I've heard more and more murmurs of discontent with the social network leviathan recently. Whether from my peers' discontent with how much it's changed since we were in college, or from deeper philosophical sources like the blog excerpt below, that discontent raises good questions. I've just pulled a tiny bit of Dan's writing on the matter:
so why did i leave facebook? haha. all in all it was a personal decision. all the arguments above weighed heavily on and largely influenced the train of thought that led me to now. which is why i spent so much time explaining them (hopefully i did it coherently enough). for the most part facebook was full of conversations about nothing. it’s a metaphor for narcissism among other things. we’ve recreated ourselves anew in the image of our ego. or rather we are created in the image of our technology. so we create our own gods. so perhaps all this is a really perverted form of vanity for we are idolizing ourselves. obviously this was not mine or anyone else’s intent upon first entering the medium but that’s why its significant to understand the metaphor. on facebook, you can be a new person. you can be a different person. you can be you! of course a person can seemingly use it responsibly but it still doesn’t justify how one imposes upon oneself a meaningless and impotent metaphor for being.
there’s also the argument for facebook being a rolodex of sorts, enabling us to keep in touch with people despite time and distance, you know, social networking. to this, each his/her own i suppose. but again i would set forth the argument of the impact of globalism. back in the day people’s communities were local. they sent letters to those far away or they didn’t and that was that. their narratives were stronger in that the wellness of their community was contingent upon the intimacy and proximity of its members. by stronger narratives i mean they had stories to tell. this idea of narrative warrants another post in and of itself but by and large its power is lost on us today. we no longer tell stories because there’s no need for it in a globalized community. which is why keeping in touch is a weak excuse when we do not even know our neighbors next door. unfortunately its all things local that suffer and the idea of ‘neighbor’ is fast becoming a social artifact. and of course the ramifications of such runs deep and wide especially when that jesus guy mentions a lot about it..neighbors. we have to wonder whether its the words that need redefining or if its something larger and systemic that needs fixing.
if one is honest with themselves it is in fact a lie and a selfish thing to think facebook provides a way of community. at least this is what i found to be true for myself. sorry, i shall try my best not to universalize my experiences. the people i care about that are not local to me i already keep in touch with through means other than facebook. but i know i can do better. but i have not in the past because there was always the ease of facebook. it is in fact a crutch to genuine relationship. not quantity but quality. an example. recently someone sarah and i know and love became pregnant. instead of learning of it on facebook, we were graced with a call from the source herself. of course, if we were on facebook, we would’ve learned about it all the sooner but by eliminating the medium that stood between us, it made the learning of that knowledge and the experience of it that much more visceral. that much more poignant. that much more real.
so why did i leave facebook? haha. all in all it was a personal decision. all the arguments above weighed heavily on and largely influenced the train of thought that led me to now. which is why i spent so much time explaining them (hopefully i did it coherently enough). for the most part facebook was full of conversations about nothing. it’s a metaphor for narcissism among other things. we’ve recreated ourselves anew in the image of our ego. or rather we are created in the image of our technology. so we create our own gods. so perhaps all this is a really perverted form of vanity for we are idolizing ourselves. obviously this was not mine or anyone else’s intent upon first entering the medium but that’s why its significant to understand the metaphor. on facebook, you can be a new person. you can be a different person. you can be you! of course a person can seemingly use it responsibly but it still doesn’t justify how one imposes upon oneself a meaningless and impotent metaphor for being.
there’s also the argument for facebook being a rolodex of sorts, enabling us to keep in touch with people despite time and distance, you know, social networking. to this, each his/her own i suppose. but again i would set forth the argument of the impact of globalism. back in the day people’s communities were local. they sent letters to those far away or they didn’t and that was that. their narratives were stronger in that the wellness of their community was contingent upon the intimacy and proximity of its members. by stronger narratives i mean they had stories to tell. this idea of narrative warrants another post in and of itself but by and large its power is lost on us today. we no longer tell stories because there’s no need for it in a globalized community. which is why keeping in touch is a weak excuse when we do not even know our neighbors next door. unfortunately its all things local that suffer and the idea of ‘neighbor’ is fast becoming a social artifact. and of course the ramifications of such runs deep and wide especially when that jesus guy mentions a lot about it..neighbors. we have to wonder whether its the words that need redefining or if its something larger and systemic that needs fixing.
if one is honest with themselves it is in fact a lie and a selfish thing to think facebook provides a way of community. at least this is what i found to be true for myself. sorry, i shall try my best not to universalize my experiences. the people i care about that are not local to me i already keep in touch with through means other than facebook. but i know i can do better. but i have not in the past because there was always the ease of facebook. it is in fact a crutch to genuine relationship. not quantity but quality. an example. recently someone sarah and i know and love became pregnant. instead of learning of it on facebook, we were graced with a call from the source herself. of course, if we were on facebook, we would’ve learned about it all the sooner but by eliminating the medium that stood between us, it made the learning of that knowledge and the experience of it that much more visceral. that much more poignant. that much more real.
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