22159 Day 29

flickering_pixels

here's another interesting book i'm reading. quick summary...using mcluhan's communication theory (the medium is the message) he (shane hipps) makes the compelling point that truth and reality are not merely communicated through technology they are shaped and framed by technology...which has obvious implications for how we view our faith. (as an aside, this book is pretty similar to stuff that eugene peterson and, especially, wendell berry have written. in fact, i find it somewhat amazing that he doesn't make mention of this at all).

he says that human's started out as an oral culture (tribal), transitioned to a print culture (individualistic), and are now in an electronic culture (a tribe of individuals). he argues that each phase has positives and negatives, but our current situation creates some interesting paradoxes, and one of them i have been contemplating quite a bit. in this electronic world the "near have become far, and the far have become near...our electronic experience creates a kind of empathy at a distance...[which], if unchecked leads to numbness and undermines our ability to extend compassion to those in our own city, neighborhood, or even homes."

he then says: "prioritizing those who are physically present can have a transforming effect on us when so many are digitally absent...the task of recalibrating our psyche and reigniting compassion must being with local relationships."

there are numerous thoughts i have in response to this, but i'll just share this one angle. as a campus minister who lives in the inner-city, i am struck deeply by these words. college students right now are more "wired" (or "wirelessed") than ever before. they are also as interested in serving and engaging compassion as any previous generation (maybe more).

furthermore, i sense that a lot of times people (young people) are drawn to the inner city because they are bored...or restless...or are searching for a better story (to borrow donald miller's words). none of those reason are bad, per se. believe me, i want to connect students with opportunities to serve, and i will definitely be recruiting students to live with us in our new house.

but, hipps points out that: "ninety percent of communal living experiments fail." whoa! "people so thoroughly shaped by individualism are simply not prepared to withstand the emotionally invasive experience of tribal living."

i won't tell you what his conclusion is...nor will i tell you mine (still working on that one), but i think that this has some large implications for the why and the how when it comes to inviting people in to our home(s) and our neighborhood(s).