While we while our time away, I thought I would just share one of those once in a while times. I was on a message board (old term, but still the same thing as “thread”, “bulletin board” and way too many other terms). These were librarians who have a love for books and words. So, here is a fun one on pun ones!
“It’s hard to explain puns to kleptomaniacs because they always take things literally.”
My tangents tend to go all over the place. Today’s came from a website that recommended I read an article on early modern citizenship and contemporary parallels.
A phrase or two stuck out to me as I read.
Commitment to citizenship is often accompanied by ideals/virtues of how we should live in the community. Further, when you confer and police the virtues of this citizenship, the group often claims to produce those virtues in the citizens. This is claimed to be done foremost through education. At the same time, the culture of a group can only be cultivated outside the school.
I then replaced “church membership” for the talk about citizenship. An interesting exercise.
OK, being the library geek that I am, here is the citation: Gordon, Andrew and Stack, Trevor (2007) ‘Citizenship Beyond
the State: Thinking with Early Modern Citizenship in the Contemporary World’,
Citizenship Studies, 11:2, 117 – 133
Conversations often start well. Usually there is a common topic that seems to be the point of contact.
The question often is – when are you done?
At least, when I was a youth, that was the consideration. Perhaps I didn’t have too much to say, or maybe I figured all you need to say was the point leave it at that. Over and out!
Now, years later, I have way too much to say. I’m sure I could find enough tangents to keep up a talk for some time. But when are you done? When their eyes glaze over? When you are repeating a point you made 10 minutes ago? When you aren’t interested in the topic any longer but you keep talking?
I hope to learn more . . . or maybe I should just say . . .
Over and Out!
When I go into a mall or a large office building I learn something.
I am here!
Now, the building plans are laid out – often with nice labels and even categorized and tagged. You can go anywhere from HERE.
Except that you probably want to know where you are going (destination), or you take the attitude that you are just here for the fun of it (journey).
I’m a bit of a destination type of guy! I usually don’t go to a meeting place unless I have a reason to be there – I’ve been invited, I’ve got a product in mind that a store holds, I’ve found I am in need of a washroom. When I’m done (or when I have found a reason to stick around), I’m committed.
The adventurous types tend to just drop in. They would not make good members or participants in a gathering. They will have fun and may even find something they are looking for. But . . . and here my question arises – How long?
And yes, there is a parallel to what is happening in the church. What do you see?