Here is the question I ran across today in my reading. I’m not going to blog a lot on this. Nor am I going to elaborate. This is about technology that blogs and Twitters and Facebooks and Flickrs and finds “friends, followers and fans.”
Here is the question: Are we perfecting the art of artificial relationships and losing the craft of cultivating deep friendships?
My early morning readings have been taking me through the story of Jacob in the Bible book of Genesis (basically 25 – 35).
While I know that Jacob (his name means “deceiver”) ends up on the good end of the scale, the rest seems a little off-kilter. I’ve heard these stories since I was a kid.
This time I’m trying to let the story flow. In the story, I’m up to Jacob leaving his father-in-law behind, after 20 years of working for him. In most government cases this would give you a good pension.
And so Jacob had gained just that! He had flocks – gained by deception some would say. He had wives given to him through his father-in-law’s deception. He was living with his father-in-law because he had deceived his brother. His mother had put him up to the deception. Jacob’s wife now deceives her father about valuable idols she has stolen from him. The father-in-law, Laban, felt he owned the wealth and wives of Jacob,even though he was the deceiver.
At the place of reckoning – where Jacob and Laban met with deadly intentions in the air – the two sit down and compromise.
Just reading the story, once again for the very first time, I wonder what each man was trying to gain. No war, of course. Unwritten acceptance that Jacob had his rights and that Laban would have to release his children and wealth.
Now, I know the rest of the story! But if I didn’t, I think I would want to read on. Jacob is fleeing from his in-laws. He’s headed back to where he was an outlaw 20 years ago – with his own family. Everything he does is built on deception. At this point in the story, the only way forward is down. On his own he’s about to end up either dead, or second class.
And maybe that’s the point? On his own, he’s in trouble. But is there another way?
That’s what I like about the Bible. There’s always another way – maybe not what we want – but the better option, nonetheless!
Let’s see where this goes.
A few years ago I heard a city planner talk about the need for community. Too much urban planning was sterile and uninviting. The planner suggested that homes need to be close to each other and should include a verandah.
The idea? People will stop and talk, come and visit, drink juice and chat. Sit on your verandah and see who arrives!
So tonight, instead of sitting in a church building and holding a meeting, we sat on our front porch. At the end of the evening the comment was: this is better than being around a table in a church office!
But, during the evening we waved to neighbours, watched people walking and had one of our neighbours come and chat for a few minutes. Thankfully the meeting could be interrupted.
And perhaps that is a parable of how relational business should be done. Do the business but don’t overlook the people around you. They are probably as much a part of your business as the management side of charts, and minutes and motions!!
Church picnic day is becoming notorious!
For the past four years we have had rain. As we did on Sunday, our church picnic day!
The rain started in the morning prior to our church service. There was a howling wind and slashes of water falling from the sky.
Then the weather calmed. The mud dried and the wind subsided. We had set up the picnic “tables” inside the auditorium. Our two main outdoor activities were to be a wagon ride and kite flying. Earlier in the morning we were envisioning mud and mayhem.
As we finished our lunch I ventured out with some of the kids who wanted to fly kites. We let out the string and they ran like crazy. The kites flew until the kids stopped. Then they lazily drifted to the ground – not enough wind power.
So the wagon ride was quickly organized. After a round of our local church dam, the kids came back reddened and a bit dehydrated.
Now, we might say this was a bust, but it wasn’t. I’m becoming more convinced that friends and fun are more important than some of the agenda we put forward. The adults sat and talked, the kids ran and played with each other. Not a bad thing!
Below are some of those kites that remained more on the ground than in the air!!
