Category: Youth Ministry
Turn Off, Slow Down
During my daily review of RSS feeds I found this article on Religion Dispatches. As one who utilizes technology I found this article an interesting challenge, but I have a meeting on Friday and Saturday that requires technology.
Turn Off, Slow Down, Drop In: The Digital Generation Reinvents the Sabbath
by Elizabeth Drescher | Feb. 24, 2011 | Religion DispatchesMy face-to-face connection to Sarah and Adam Walker Cleaveland is thin. Nonetheless, Sarah and I were “friends” on Facebook, which, in turn, linked me to Adam’s robust social media presence. So I was privy to the deep joy that surrounded the couple last fall as they celebrated the halfway mark of Sarah’s pregnancy with twin boys. I also learned almost immediately, it seemed, when the pregnancy came to a wrenching, premature end on October 25, 2010, and the couple lost their 19-week-old sons, Micah and Judah.
Adam and Sarah have been on my mind a great deal this week as I reflect on a very different social media experience: next weekend’s National Day of Unplugging, from sunset on March 4 to sunset on March 5—a day when “people across the nation will reclaim time, slow down their lives and reconnect with friends, family, the community, and themselves.” Reboot, the nonprofit sponsoring the event as part of their Sabbath Manifesto project, includes “Ten Principles” to guide participation: 1) Avoid technology; 2) Connect with loved ones; 3) Nurture your health; 4) Get outside; 5) Avoid commerce; 6) Light candles; 7) Drink wine; 8) Eat bread; 9) Find silence; 10) Give back. But, according the group’s website, the key principle of focus for the day is theavoidance of technology.
Privilege and Oppression
I saw this article on Brian McLaren’s website that notes the “Invisible Knapsack of White Privilege”. If you have a few moments it is worth reviewing, and putting the 2012 event on your calendar.
Privilege and Oppression
Such As These | davecsinos.com | Feb. 19, 2011A few nights ago, in celebration of the beginning of reading week (like spring break in the US), my dad and I plopped down on the couch in his apartment to watch a movie. We put in Shallow Hal, a Jack Black comedy about a man whose perception is altered so that he can only see people for who they are on the inside. For example, if a beautiful woman wasn’t a very nice person, he saw her as physically unattractive. The whole plot revolves around his relationship with a voluptuous blonde woman (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) who is actually an obese woman. Yet Hal (Jack Black’s character) was only able to see her inner beauty—hence her “appearing” to be a tall, thin, blond woman.
Towards the end of the movie, my mother came home from class at the University of Toronto and asked to be filled in about the movie so she could join in for the last 10 minutes or so. We conceded and told her what had happened over the past 90 minutes. After the movie was over, she said, “You know, I can see why people think this movie has a good message about inner beauty, but I don’t like the fact that it perpetuates traditional messages about what is considered beautiful.”