Category: Michael D
Interesting Reading This Morning
Yes, I’ve been away from this space for a good long time after I was very active during my seasons of sabbatical this year. Why? Those brief reasons are listed below if you are interested. But, to be fair to those stopping by, here are the two things I read this morning that I think are worth your time. The article about Apple is informative for my brand of Christian witness and what Christianity means broadly in this age of Empire.
16 Great Documentaries from 2019 and How to Watch Them
(Vox)
Apple built a $1 Trillion empire on two metaphors. One is breaking.
(Fast Company)
Why have I been missing from this space? Reasons abound
- My creativity is lacking. That may sound odd for a person that had 90 days off this year to rest and reconnect with the “why” I serve in ministry, but the details, pre-sabbatical and post-sabbatical, extract attention and energy. Without intentional space and practice of writing, that creativity becomes another “to do” item on the list.
- I’m trying to be a better sports team fan. Social media, including this blog, can be used like attending a game live. When I do attend a game in person, I’m a much better fan because there are filters, behavior and language, that I use in public that are not always operative when I’m on social media. You might notice that in yourself or others you follow.
- Though venting into cyberspace may be helpful to my sense of right and wrong or my working out thoughts or feelings, I don’t count myself as an “influencer” in cyberspace and my cynical voice shouts, “What’s the point?” I use my Twitter for news, connections, to share interesting articles or thought projects, and to comment to my States legislative representatives in Congress and the State legislature. That also mostly feels like shouting at the moon or into cyberspace. There is a lot of shouting right now.
- I don’t want to be thought of as a negative person though few have ever considered me an optimists. Oscar the Grouch is my favorite Sesame Street character and Mr. Rogers the example I grew up with as a living idealists. I like to think I’m a realists with a cynical streak.
My journaling began the summer between 6th and 7th grade when we moved from one part of Texas to another part of Texas. I was not happy about the move, and at every opportunity voiced that to my parents. Not long after we moved my mother handed me a spiral binder and a pencil. “I’m sick of listening to you complain. This is what is best for our family. So, if you have complaints, write them in this journal and work it out for yourself because we are done hearing your negativity and complaining.” I had been writing short stories based on my experiences on campouts with my Scout troops. I guess it was my mothers’s best idea as she worked to settle our new home and lives in this new place.
So, here I am back to this space. It is like my return to my albums from the 1980’s and 1990’s, as well as my appreciation for George Carlin. Language matters. The use of language matters. I will do my best to respect this space or the time of those that stop by.
Skilled Listening
Though the play time, travel, and relative freedom from schedules is over, the heat index tells us that summer is still with us. Children and youth have returned to school and family schedules are adjusting. My neighborhood’s morning schedule has changed as commuters remind themselves to watch for kids crossing streets and waiting on the bus.
The last season of my sabbatical (July 15-August 16) was filled with some travel, continuing education, and a bit of rest. But, before that June and July were a whirlwind of activity focused around the campers and volunteers of our summer camp program. This year campers and counselors learned how peace works in their lives and the communities in which they live and move. The summer season ended with Mission Camp Road Show which visited Texas City, TX to help with ongoing Hurricane Harvey recovery. Oklahomans uniquely understand the longterm work of recovering from a natural disaster. Learn more about what the group did and how they represented the “Oklahoma standard” by visiting the Region’s website.
During my last season of sabbatical I was reminded of the difference between listening to “get through” and listening “to hear”. That may sound odd, then again, it may resonate. You know, the difference between thinking of your next reply in a conversation versus listening and absorbing what you are hearing. Then, thoughtful pause, and reply. Listening is a skill.
When we begin to act by listening, the rest follows naturally. It’s not so easy, of course—it requires us to give up preconceived ideas, judgments, and desires in order to allow space to hear what is being said. True listening requires a deep respect and a genuine curiosity about situations as well as a willingness just to be there and share stories. Listening opens the space, allows us to hear what needs to be done in that moment. It also allows us to hear when it is better not to act, which is sometimes a hard message to receive.
Mirabai Bush, “When Listening is the Most Radical Act.” gratefulness.org (August 29, 2019) [https://gratefulness.org/resource/why-listening-is-the-most-radical-act/]
All the technology that is a part of life these days, if you choose to use it or not, makes listening harder and a bit easier. Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook (just name dropping a few) give users the ability to share emotion and information, positive and negative as well as true or false, easier, faster, but does that mean we are listening to one another. Or, are we simply using the latest tech megaphone to shout, shout, shout about . . . (fill in the blank). How is your “FOMO” today? Do you have a fear of missing out? Is the idea of your favorite social media platform being offline a day or a week be a gift or does it induce your favorite unconscious stress activity? Listen to yourself. Listen to yourself for a day or a week. What themes are you hearing in the posts you share or actual words you say out loud?
Take a week where you don’t post, but listen to and through the words of people in the stream of your social media platforms. What thoughtfully challenges your assumptions? What is intended to play on your emotion? What affirms your humanity and that of others? I don’t think being counter-cultural means “drop out.” We can, like Jesus did, take time away to recalibrate and rediscover how to be “hard on issues and soft, compassionate on people.”(A phrase used at the Mediation Training that I attended sponsored by the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center. “Hard on issues and soft on people” has been lost in our culture.)
The tough part is disassembling the person from the issue.