The Wired Wanderings of a Postmodern Pilgrim
Dec 22nd, 2005 by Tom Lyberg
I was completely surprised to find I had done a new podcast, at least according to itunes. I didn’t know that embedding a link to a sound file that is not on my server would send it out as a podcast. So sorry about the goof. Its an interesting little lecture but my intention was to give you the choice to listen or not.
I should have my Christmas podcast done tonight, so watch for it by morning. And it will be a real Wired Jesus Podcast!
Dec 21st, 2005 by Tom Lyberg
The creators of Bowed Radio happen to be listeners to Wired Jesus and asked me to guest host their latest podcast. Bowed Radio is a cool exploration of the creative edge of string music from around the world and it was a blast to be a part of it.
If you are into things ranging from Gypsy fiddle with a twist to the avant garde, Bowed Radio is for you. Check it out and let them know you found it via Wired Jesus.
Subscribe to Bowed Radio Podcast
Dec 21st, 2005 by Tom Lyberg
Its seems Barbara Walters has done the definitive work on faith and life after death and the verdict is… she won’t give her own opinion. I got bit of a chuckle out of that yesterday when she appeared on Good Morning America and she was asked if she believed in heaven and her answer was, “A heaven with family and loved ones is a very comforting thought to many people.”
Unfortunately I had a long evening meeting so I missed Heaven — Where Is It? How Do We Get There?. I plan on ordering the DVD and checking out what she and her guests had to say. The little I was able to glean from her morning interview and the web site offers some real challenges for those of us who live and grapple with faith in the 21st Century because it seems like many of the people in who responded to the polls and who were interviewed still seem to be living in the Dark Ages.
Faith is not a rational thing and the western world has tried to make it a very rational structure and glossed over inconsistancies, history, and current realities. I say this as I am reading one of the most challenging books I have read in years, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris. Expect a podcast in the new year on it. The core of what he is arguing is that faith, particularly Western Christian liberalism and Orthodox Islam, have an inherent absurdity in many of their beliefs, especially regarding the afterlife, that faith now poses the greatest threat to the future of the human race. Consider the little bit that I know Barbara Walthers shared and other thingsthat I saw – 1 out 4 Americans believe heaven is for Christians only; strict Muslims believe the same except that it is designed for the needs of men and resembles the Playboy mansion; that intelligent design and evolution sounds more like a religious argument on both sides rather than rational science, etc…
You might want to check out this out from Mark Allender. Its a lecture that goes in some of the same directions with those who are wrestling with the disconnects between faith and reason in the 21st Century.
Mark Allender here.
I am a subscriber to the WGBH Forum podcast out of Boston – and their last lecture – a scant 20 minute piece on Science and Religion – has so profoundly affected me that have been forwarding this to many friends and family. I also thought it might interest you.
Here is the podcast link:
http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510007&uid=f14bc329c72603758146504eb2648461
And here is where you can download it if you are interested:
http://cdn.npr-podcasts.speedera.net/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/396/510007/WGBH_4967152.mp3
Again, no obligation but I suspect you might get a lot out of it. It is a very postmodern thing to experience religion through a lens of science. This piece correlates “ideas” to “viruses” that propagate themselves with little regard to their “hosts.” A fascinating way to think about ideas and religion…
Thought i’d share.
mark
zzz@uu.cx
http://zzz.uu.cx
Watch for a podcast on all this after the first of the year. I think Jon Steward summed it all up best when he said this about the theory of intelligent design: “Its not teaching that there is a god, only that there is someone out there with a job description an awful lot like it.”
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Dec 8th, 2005 by Tom Lyberg
A while back I came a cross a story that said that megachurches like Willow Creek were closing for the summer because it was bad for people’s schedules. Turned out the story was a satire by The Holy Observer but many of us bought because it sounded so incredibly plausible.
Well, satire has become reality. If you haven’t seen it, some megachurches have announced that they will not hold Christmas Day services this year. The reasons vary – to allow people to travel to be with families, not having enough volunteers to staff a Sunday morning designed for 8,000 people, they just had worship the night before.
You can check out one version of the story here on ABC News.
What do I think? I come out of tradition where we normally did not hold Christmas Day services and the only time we cancel a Sunday service is because of blizzard (up here in NW Ohio) or a hurricane (growing up in Florida).
I guess what bothers me is the convenience factor, the message that worship or really any spiritual practice is a matter of convenience rather than lifestyle. Considering that Superbowl Sunday is a day when attendance goes down noticably, perhaps cancelling would be a good idea. Better yet, put the game up on the worship projection screen (actually, since I don’t have a widescreen TV…).
The other bothersome part is that by their sheer size, the megachurches become slaves to their facility. Cost effectiveness is more important than people and relationships, which may explain why most postmoderns tend to stay away from these places. They are more about boomer entertainment than real relationship and interaction, which you can’t do as a face in theater among thousands. Better to find a small gathering that offers a decent latte than that.
Worship is not about a doctrinaire imposition of worship on Sunday alone, blue laws, and that old custom. But setting aside time to gather with others on the journey, to put God and matters of the spirit first in life one block of time out of the week, makes much more sense then the usual “what I do is between God and me” and “I can worship anywhere, anytime”. That all kind of smacks of making God into my image, which in the end is really no god at all. Just a thought.
Dec 6th, 2005 by Tom Lyberg
So, what do you think? Here is the new official Wired Jesus logo that was attached to the last podcast for your itunes viewing pleasure.
Enjoy!
Dec 6th, 2005 by Tom Lyberg
Here is the first follow up to the Soundtracks of Life Episode I did. It includes a clip from the Daily Source Code as well as some Disney Park music. What I play with is how the innocent music of Disney does much more than infect your brain, like “Its a Small World” getting stuck in your head. The Disney Imagineers are masters of the postmodern experience, blending the senses into a memory that is relived over and over again. The church could learn from Disney, in that there are more people ready to make a pilgrimage to Walt Disney World than the places that call people to a spiritual journey today.
The Disney clips come from my own collection of Disney Park music but if you want to hear it for yourself, I recommend Sorcerer Radio and the Sorcerer Radio Podcast. Sorcerer Radio is a stream on Live365(one of my favorite streaming sites) and also as a podcast and its nothing but music from Walt Disney World, straight from a guy in Orlando. Cool site for anyone into Disney. Let him know you found him here.
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Dec 3rd, 2005 by Tom Lyberg
If you are a gamer from back in the old paper and pencil, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons days, not to mention a digital gamer today, you will love Jinx. Some of the best shirts and gear for gamers around. I am particularly fond of this shirt. I’m not sure many people in my congregation will get it but this shirt rules. Makes me want to dig out my old 9th Level cleric with a +3 mace of striking and kick some undead butt!
Thanks to my son, the computer vampire, for turning me onto this. When he’s not fragging online, you know him by that white pasty glow from crt emissions and closed blinds 24/7 to stop the reflections, so he says. However, since my dad’s side of the family hails from Transylvania (really, they were gypsies), maybe its just the genetics coming out. He likes this shirt. He’s a Holy Grail fan. I aim to raise my boy right. 🙂
Dec 3rd, 2005 by Tom Lyberg
I have to admit I really admire the folks who are able to follow a regular podcasting schedule. This time of year the pastor biz gets hectic and so does family life. However, expect a podcast Monday and some posts this weekend.
Nov 15th, 2005 by Tom Lyberg
Yes, I’m back and the explanation is on the podcast. Let’s just say life got busy and unpleasant for a bit but things are much improved. Hopefully my podcasting time will improve as well.
While the Soundtrack to Life podcast is still coming, because of a personal experience and recent Evil Genius Chronicles, I’m wandering with this one. You’re probably used to it by now. Enjoy exploring these two rather unique communities that have a lot to offer postmodern pilgrims.
Links:
Home Page of the Kairos Prison Ministry
Stephen Hill’s Article on the future of podcasting
Dave Slusher’s Blog Response and Podcast to Stephen Hill
Gilmor Gang Podcast with Adam Curry and Stephen Hill
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Oct 20th, 2005 by Tom Lyberg
Here is podcast #20 and I think I’m starting to get the hang of this. This original posting is pretty bare bones and without the show notes – have a friend flying in from Florida and just got back from a 4th Grade soccer players got injuried and ended up in the ER. Life catches up and keeps you busy. I’ll get the show notes up tomorrow but in the meantime, enjoy the podcast.
Click here to download the podcast.
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