Disconnecting in order to Reconnect

It's been a full week now of being "signed off" from Facebook, and I've started thinking through what this past week has been like without it. I've been pondering what's been different without that familiar blue and white log in screen readily available to me. I have to be honest, while there are a couple things I miss about Facebook, this past week has been SO much more focused and productive, it truly is unreal how much of a difference signing off has made for me. It hasn't been 100% easy, or without temptation, but it truly has been a fantastic break. A friend of mine told me she gave up Facebook a few years ago for Lent and said, "oh you'll love it, it will change your life for the better," and she's kind of right. I do miss seeing what some folks are up to. I miss commenting on the GPC high school girl's pages and photos, I miss seeing my sister's status updates which usually have something cute to do with Lily, and my 13 year old niece just got her own Facebook page so I'm bummed to not get to interact with her a bit more on there, but on the whole, I am amazed at the space it has opened up in my life. I am getting so much more done--when I sit down to answer an email, pay our bills, grade papers, or work on something for Charles in the office, I am finding myself actually doing that task! I know, what a concept, right?? I'm reading a lot more, since my main source of internet time is no longer available to me, I'm getting our housework done a lot more efficiently and am able to be at the church more to help my husband. I'm actually starting my day reading scripture and journaling my prayers instead of clicking around seeing what 700 people did the previous night. I had no idea randomly clicking around various people's pages was really sucking up so much of my time, but this past week has shown me that this was in fact the case. I did sign on last Sunday (Sundays are "feast days" during Lent, so you are allowed to partake of whatever you are fasting from) and honestly my initial reaction was a feeling of being overwhelmed. Way too much information was in front of me about way too many different people and I found I didn't really know where to start. Apparently when you don't check Facebook every couple hours the posts and photos and updates accumulate to an overwhelming quantity.

I'm really not trying to knock social networking, I think there are some amazing aspects to it and it has been wonderful to be able to remain in contact with some folks who are far away. However, if anyone is feeling like they might need to sign off for a little while, I want to encourage you to give it a try, even if it's just for a day or two. There's nothing magical about Lent--just because you may not have begun a fast on Ash Wednesday does not mean it is too late to enter into something for part of the remaining 5 weeks. Lent is about creating space for Jesus, and during this season of transition, change, and a lot of ups and downs, I've needed that space. It feels safer sometimes, to simply hide behind technology when we're feeling less than our best, but I'm slowly discovering that even though the risk is greater, when we give Jesus that extra space to speak, some pretty amazing things can happen. Some pretty desperate prayers can be answered, and we slowly find ourselves a bit more connected...to ourselves, those we share our home with, our friends, and the One who is waiting for us to give Him space to speak.

Sketchers, the Superbowl, and Practical Theology

I know, I know, the Superbowl was so last week...or was it two weeks ago? I've been ruminating on something and am finally finding a bit of space to sit down and write about it. I love Superbowl commercials, unless the Seahawks or 49ers are playing, the commercials really are the reason to watch the big game (that, and it's an excuse to consume large amounts of sour cream-based dips which somehow seems allowable because it's practically unpatriotic to not eat potato chips and onion dip on Superbowl Day). For the most part, the commercials are entertaining and relatively clean, and we "consume" them with about as much thought as we are giving to the quantity of potato chips we're ingesting. Go Daddy (some internet hosting site, whatever the heck that means) has always pushed the boundaries using sexy models to get guys to go visit their website, but I've never been interested in internet hosting, so besides being annoyed by their commercials the company has no impact on my daily life. This year, however, many of you might remember the Sketchers commercial towards the end of the game where Kim Kardashian sexily leads her physical trainer on, then breaks up with him because apparently the Sketchers Shape Up shoes work better than he ever has. Some of you may disagree with me, but I would argue that it was borderline pornographic. She had some clothes on, but the commercial was so suggestive and so blatanly using sex to sell their product that I was uncomfortable watching it. We were watching with the youth, and several moms in the room started telling the boys to look away. I agree, this wasn't an appropriate commercial for any age really.

The next day in class we were talking about practical theology--what it is and how it works. Chap was explaining that we all participate in practical theology, most of us just aren't consciously aware that this is what we're doing. But everytime we make a choice based on our theology, that's practical theology--where the rubber hits the road if you will. He used this commercial as an example. We discussed how over the top inappropriate this commercial was, and now as Christians we have a choice to make--will we continue to purchase Sketchers products? Or will we choose a different brand of shoe that has advertising that better lines up with the values we have? I hadn't thought about it much, but at some level, this is a theological issue. Where we choose to spend our money, the companies we choose to support, the brands we wear and what these companies do or don't stand for are all theological issues. I have a pair of Sketchers, I love them, they've lasted 4 years now and are wearing out, so I was recently thinking of replacing them. However, I hate the way they used their Superbowl slot. As much as I love the shoes, my theology says our bodies are God's temple not advertising ploys, that sex is for marriage, not for selling foot wear. It's tough in our world today. Will my choosing to not buy a brand of shoes for my family anymore have lasting impacts on a company? No, and I realize that. However I think at some point we have to start taking some small steps to say "hold on, this isn't right...my kids are watching this game and I don't want to have to tell them to turn their heads at commercial breaks." What I do know is that it is important to be mindful patrons of businesses, to be wise in how we use our money to support companies and causes, and that we are all called to be practical theologians--to let the rubber hit the road as we live out this crazy journey of faith.

Why I'm a Gleek

If you aren't familiar with the term "Gleek," well, I guess I'd wonder where you've been this year! Fox TV's smash hit Glee has taken the country by storm, and for good reason! The show ran a test series in the fall--13 episodes, just to see if the idea would catch on. It did. Immediately. Like wildfire. They took the winter months off to record the second half of the season and brought it back in April for the past 2 months. The season finale was last night, and oh my word. SUCH a great ending to the season.

Charles and I began hearing our youth group kids (and leaders) talking about this thing called Glee in the fall. It ran on Wednesday evenings right as youth group was going on, and since we don't even have cable, much less fancy TiVo to record shows we miss, we didn't really attempt to catch up. The chatter amongst our students (and around Fuller) kept spreading, so over Christmas break we finally said "okay, we gotta watch a couple episodes to see what the fuss is all about." We were hooked. (Me moreso, but he enjoys it). The creators of this show brilliantly tapped into something every high school kid experiences--feeling like a misfit. Even as you get to know the so-called popular kids you realize they feel the same way. A Spanish teacher with a passion for music pulls them together to form the school's Glee Club (he uses some unconventional methods to convince some of them to join, but nonetheless he gets them all to commit to the program) and manages over the course of the year to form a community for them where each of them begins to feel like they do belong. They deal with real life teenage issues throughout the show--a student struggling with his sexual orientation, a teenage pregnancy, family issues, divorce, adoption, popularity, grades and friendship--so it's not a show for little kids to watch, but I love many of the ways they handle these situations. To top it off, the actors who play the teens are some of the most talented people ever--they sing, they act, they dance (yes they do all the songs themselves). The music is fun, all covers of familiar songs that you'll want to sing along with!

Fox has decided to re-run the entire first season over the summer, on Thursday nights, so if you missed it the first time around, jump on board this summer and check it out--I promise, you'll appreciate the fun, the cheesiness, and of course, the music. Come on, you know you wanna be a Gleek :)