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Information is not always power. 

Just ask any librarian. 

In the digital age, wealth and power accrue to those who control the system logics by which data is exchanged.  (Batstone, David.  “I crave power”.  Sojourners, May-June 2000, p. 10.)

I was up somewhat early today to do a podcast with Sam Reimer, a sociologist at Crandall University.  His point for small churches is that our people are living in a different world!  Their locus of authority is themselves.  No one else.  The individual picks and chooses what they will believe and act upon.  Before I give away too much – consider looking at this podcast.

One of my favourite authours – whom I have read over the years starting a decade or two ago.  Sage advice in this paragraph with a link to the full article.

As the story is told, renowned ethicist John Kavanaugh once traveled to India to meet with Mother Teresa for spiritual guidance and advice. He visited her ministry in Calcutta (now called Kolkata, the original Bengali name) and set up a time to speak with her. She asked him “What can I do for you? How can I pray for you?” to which Kavanaugh said, “Please pray that I might have clarity about the future and what God wants me to do.” Mother Teresa surprised him by saying, “I will not pray for you to have clarity.” Kavanaugh was taken aback. He had not expected her to refuse him like that, so he asked why not. She said to him, “You do not need greater clarity. You need greater faith. That’s what I will pray for.”

https://davidtimms.wordpress.com/2023/12/04/clarity-or-faith/

Building for Joy!

First off, I think that is a great title for how we should live our lives.  Second, I’ve just finished skimming (I have read, but am still processing) an article on building joy in a digital world.  The authors suggest that there needs to be a positive outcome of our use of the digital.  So, for those presenting digital content:  what is your motivation, how intense is the experience, do you present with integrity, how normative is the content and how dependent are users on external factors (good and bad)?

Sounds like a lot of esoteric considerations.  But, perhaps there is something to this approach to the digital experience which better suits a Christian approach to life.  As I say, I’m just on the outer edges of this!  You can follow with me – here is a research paper that outlines these thoughts – https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/33895/3/978-1-958651-47-6_17.pdf