So our lives have been ex-TV for the last two weeks. I’m proud to say I’m not desperately foaming at the mouth, and Katrina and I aren’t about to claw our eyes out from the boredom. In fact, we’ve had more silence and peace around here than we’ve had in awhile. We’ve had a chance to read more, to talk over meals, and to pray together. The best part about us getting rid of our TV is the story - so if you don’t mind, let me indulge:

We’d been trying to pawn off our TV for several months, each time chickening out - coming up with some excuse why we still needed it. It wasn’t until our good friends were putting on a garage sale that we finally worked up enough courage to pull the plug on our TV habit.

Let me tell you, hauling a 27 inch TV down a flight of stairs and shoving it into a two door car is not an easy job - but we did it. Then we hauled it out into the middle of a field (the “best” place for a garage sale…where’s the garage!?!) and set it up next to all the other stuff we could bear to part with.

Browsers and perusers kept eying the TV, but there were no takers. One lady “bought” it, but when she illegedly tried to “plug it into her car” it wouldn’t turn on. DUH. I’m not sure what that was all about, but we were happy to give her her money back when she started yelling profusely.

Then came this great Hispanic couple. They wanted to buy our TV, but didn’t have enough to make the full purchase. It was the end of the day, and I wasn’t looking forward to carting that thing back to our upstairs apartment, not to mention have to deal with the ball and chain of a TV now that we finally felt free enough to sell it. So we sold it for less than it was worth, and even drove it up to their house for them. Their words were full of joy and excitement. They pointed to their family’s names in the concrete. I noticed a few Scripture verses scrawled into their front porch.

As I was installing the TV, the wife asked if I liked tamales. When I responded in the affirmative, she left the room and brought back a big stack of homemade tamales! She confessed she was embarrassed they couldn’t afford to pay what I was asking for the TV, but would like to pay for the rest in tamales. I loved it! Believe me, those tamales were a gift of hospitality, not just a payment for the TV. I feel like I could’ve hung out there all day. It was a real place of peace.  That’s how the world ought to work in my opinion.  A world where capitalism looses ground and communism is unnecessary.  A sharing and redistributing of personal resources, rather than living off cash.  It’s old school, but I like it.

So, much like giving away a puppy, I was glad to know that our TV was in the hands of a good family. I suppose that only reveals my covert TV idolizing, and reveals how happy I am that its out of our house.

Now its on to bigger and better things. God is too big for prime time.

When I first heard of the social networking site, Facebook.com, I thought - “Great, just another way to collect loose associations - my friends are now baseball cards.” I could write twenty blogs on this topic. Many of my friends were interested in engaging with this media (they are early adopters, I suppose), but I just felt frustrated. (Partly because I’m somewhat introverted and I value loyal relationships… even when it gets difficult, and the whole machine seemed to be straight from the CIA and everyone reads / has access to what everyone writes, which makes it shallow at best.)

At the time, I thought these networking sites would become a substitute for good old-fashioned relationship… You know, the old pastime of face-to-face conversations with multi-sensory communication. As the years went by, I managed to avoid signing up to any social networking sites, until after I graduated, and my job required it. Then I became very active on these online communities, primarily with the goal of being able to communicate effeciently.

But rather quickly, I’m seeing the perks and the drawbacks. This kind of communication changes life and numbs us to some extent. It’s one-sided, layered with covert messages, “disposable” yet permanent, and rather time consuming (if one allows it to become so). Now, I’m seeing people treat other people as disposable in ‘real life.’ It’s almost as if these sites teach us to dehumanize each other. I’m not quite sure why this is, but I do not like it. It’s almost like our full color lives have turned “black and white…” (more specifically into binary code 0101010101…) I don’t think the answer is to boycott the sites - they’re a part of the culture, but at the same time, I’m looking for some constructive ways to engage in activities that value people and honor God in that context. Any ideas?

Just a little more inspiration from this post:

Commercials 2007

Commercials 2006

Other cool ones

Okay - everyone’s gotta check “Talk to Jesus” out.

Pointless avarice that defames our Lord? Or culturally relevant tool for Gen X?

So maybe I’m the delinquent here. Has EVERYONE else already heard of Meetup.com? It is the neatest new discovery on my travels through the web. In case the one other person on this planet who hasn’t heard of this nifty service just so happens to find this post, let me fill you in on what its all about.

Let’s say you’re new to the area, and you want to meet some people - but the people you work with are all losers or snobs, and you aren’t sure how you managed to have so time to be in clubs/ activities way back in your High School days. Enter Meetup. You have an interest in pugs, or antiquated lawn gnomes, and you search for these topics locally. Meetup hooks you up with those in your area also interested in your strange hobbies and let’s you join in on their events! Before long, you’re standing in a sea of old lawn gnomes and new friends.

I’ve already used this tool as a way to find others who are interested in sustainable architecture and farmer’s markets in my area. Tons of fun!

Check out this video below:

Wouldn’t this be a neat way to naturally and relationally connect with other Christians in your area who are searching out God down similar pathways? Those in more organic-styled church networks are finding it difficult to coordinate times for everyone to get together, but this opens the door, AND it communicates to others in your area about your gatherings. I like this because it allows just about anyone in the Meetup group to organize an event, and let everyone else know about it. It takes the attention off the “leaders” pulling off all the events, and allows Joe to invite everyone over for burgers or Lucy to call all the women to pray over her new-born child.

Are there some down sides to this? Maybe. Should we be so concerned with meeting people who have similar interests? Is it really SO hard to find friends these days that we look people up on the internet to check them out before meeting with them? What ever happened to baking cookies and knocking on our neighbor’s door?

Any other thoughts?