small is the new large

i am officially a podcast junkie. i subscribe to over 300 podcasts ranging in topic from uc-berkeley courses on the byzantine empire to current political front-runners edwards, obama, and clinton, to podcasts from emerging communities like mars hill and mosaic and thinkers like doug pagitt and dr. leonard sweet. listening to dr. leonard sweet's podcast, "napkin scribbles" today while working in my office and one in particular has stuck with me throughout the day and transfixed my thoughts. it is entitled "small is the new large" and offers some profound insights into the postmodern fixation with the micro and mini and the observation that all things in life seem to come in single-serving portions (see fight club, book by Chuck Palahniuk and movie by david fincher). sweet makes the observation that the modern fascination with the masses huddling into megachurches is being met with the postmodern idea of small, close-knit communities sharing their lives with each other in communal worship, study, and living. it is really a culture-shift from the decadence of the 20th century to the consideration of the 21st century; consideration in the sense that society is beginning to ask itself questions regarding impact. sweet also observes that the word "big" is and will continue to be linked to the word "bigotry" in more ways than the obvious one. large, big, super-size are all becoming associated with inconsiderate, unnecessary, and unhealthy while the micro and the mini are seen as the wave of the future (see mac and pc ads and steve jobs' recent keynote address) while questions are consistently being raised regarding size to proportion of environmental impact. it is a remarkably simple yet somewhat complex observation and one that i will keep before me as i continue in my spiritual journey towards ordination. please feel free to comment, question, or dialogue. comments are more than welcome. enjoy the sabbath and pray for peace in the middle east, or at least for us not to muck it up anymore than we already have.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

re: Anne Lamott's "Mess" and John Wesley's "Perfection"

Image
here is 6 days growth. my son said this morning, "your beard is pinching me!" i have received some comments regarding my last post which included an excerpt from Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird . The comments centered around Lamott's observations re: perfectionism being the voice of the oppressor, the Wesleyan theological term "Christian Perfection", and the United Methodist understanding that we are moving on to "perfection." i don't think that by sharing Lamott's observations i have called Wesley's theology into question or compromised my own understanding of "Christian Perfection." as i understand Wesley, his move towards "perfection", or the acquisition of "sanctification" (though Wesley seems to believe that this could be a fleeting acquisition at best) is a process or journey made by one through grace alone and that one who achieves "perfection" is not in the state permanently and therefore is...
Read more

what was he thinking?

recently as i was enjoying a plateful of sopes at my new favorite mexican food restaurant (Esperanza's on Park Place and 8th in Fort Worth), i glanced over to see a young man wearing a t-shirt that read "BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS" on the back. i thought, wow i really like that and began to wonder what the front of the shirt said, as his back was to me the entire meal. as he got up to leave, he turned to reveal a Police Department logo on the front of his shirt. the shirt seemed to be created to honor fallen officers as the logo included a black stripe. i wondered, was this what Jesus was thinking when he shared this with the crowds? was he referring to this type of "keeping the peace?" i am certainly not implying that we should refrain from remembering those who have fallen in the line of duty as soldiers or that police officers or that officers should not be thanked for the countless hours they spend serving and protecting our communities. i am simply ...
Read more

who keeps our story when we are gone?

great comments on "re:Post..." on 10/8/09. thanks to all who contribute and offer thought-provoking comments and questions. wanted to add to that discussion and our current stream of storytelling with a thought-provoking post by my friend Gavin Richardson re: a session at barcampnashville that got him thinking. find it here , the post is called "we're all gonna die : so who is your digital executor?" thanks to Gavin for sharing his barcampnashville experience. it got me to thinking that in this digital age, when all that we share/post/contribute online outlives us, who do we trust with our story after we are gone? i have a friend that died years ago but still has a facebook page, which myself and other friends still post on from time to time. even though it was unintentional (no one thought to take it down) it has been really therapeutic for us as we remember her light and energy. i also think about the fact that i desired greatly to record the stor...
Read more