GroshLink

Thank-you to Miller for passing along A "Duty to Die"? (Thomas A. Sowell, Real Clear Politics, 5/11/2010, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/05/11/a_duty_to_die_105521.html).  Below's the conclusion:

Much of what is taught in our schools and colleges today seeks to break down traditional values, and replace them with more fancy and fashionable notions, of which "a duty to die" is just one.

These efforts at changing values used to be called "values clarification," though the name has had to be changed repeatedly over the years, as more and more parents caught on to what was going on and objected. The values that supposedly needed "clarification" had been clear enough to last for generations and nobody asked the schools and colleges for this "clarification."

Nor are we better people because of it.

Quick comment:  Just received a copy of The Art of Dying: Living Fully into the Life to Come (Rob Moll, InterVarsity Press, 2010), below's an excerpt.  I desire to explore this topic further in a number of contexts, including our local congregation and our work with budding health care professionals at PSU-Hershey Medical Center. If you have insights/resources to share, please let me know. 

The spiritual preparation necessary for a good, faithful death accumulates slowly over a lifetime. A good death does not occur in a vacuum. Also necessary are a supportive family and caring spiritual community alongside a medical community able to provide quality care consistent with the goals of a patient. . . . Developing a community united about the values we should bring to the deathbed . . . grows slowly as we hear sermons and share stories, as we care for one another and think alone of the fact that one day we too will die. -- http://www.ivpress.com/title/ata/3736-cut.pdf

Does the satire of this commercial stick to Evangelical assemblies with whom you are familiar?  Does the video, http://vimeo.com/11501569, and the numerous comments lead one to helpful next steps for a worship service or into a liturgical quagmire? 

How does your local congregation bring the Body of Christ's focus upon the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit through the Word, worship, regular practices/habits, and teaching?  Starting to desire to write on these topics instead of passing the link along and throwing questions out.  A few brief words:  Praying for God to be truly worshipped today (and every day).  It takes significant time, energy and focus of the heart for the Body of Christ to counter-culturally enter Word and Spirit guided/led worship instead of performance to appease the masses. I encourage you to take up the challenge.  Please share your thoughts, insights, practices, and/or wrestling with this concern.

Family favorites originally posted by Theresa in the form of notes on Facebook.

Trail Mix Muffins

2 1/4 c. flour
1 c. granola cereal w/o raisins
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
2 eggs
1 c. milk
3/4 c. vegetable oil
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped dry roasted peanuts
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. chopped dried apricots

Combine flour, cereal, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the chips, peanuts, raisins and apricots.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three fourths full. Bake at 375 for 15-18 min. or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 min. before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: about 1 1/2 dozen.

(I've never made these exactly as the recipe is written. I just use whatever I have on hand.)

 (More)

Text blocking application for my cell phone, i.e., one which kicks in when I'm driving?  Hmm, might be a good investment to stand against the temptation. But it's a significant investment considering that one must have a phone with GPS to use a text blocking application. For a brief introduction watch David Pogue's Text-Blocking Apps (NY Times Video, 2:13 minutes). Note: I appreciate how Pogue humorously draws attention to a number of ways that we're regularly distracted on the road.  How many of us eat/drink, talk to another in the car (thereby loosing focus on the road), prep ourselves for the day (e.g., shave, make-up), miss basic traffic signs, play with the radio/CD/tape (not in the video, but immediately comes to mind), read maps/directions (also not in video), etc?

Note: Texting while driving isn't an issue for our kids.  They're not old enough for driver training and I have the benefit of modeling passenger texting as Theresa does most of the family driving ;-)

So Theresa and I took the time to catch-up with the reality which has run Sideways to our family and ministry's growth.  As the flurry of storybook endings (accompanied by LOST thank-you notes woven into a ton of commercials for the better worlds offered by film trailers, Target, styling cars, Walmart Rollback) reached their crescendo, it was not hard to see the conclusion of Jack's death/funeral after his heroic struggle with the monster who took over Locke's body. Didn't quite get where the pilot came from and how the plane was made ready to go, but I'm sure a fan can explain that one to me.

Is LOST over?  For a certain niche, this will no doubt be a classic series with a beautiful ending.  For others, it will be a confused series with butterfly story arcs (and loose ends needed to be tied) dabbling in the creation of a vague mythology/mystery, but coming to a popularist ending emphasizing a unitarian life (and afterlife)* which embraces the inner goodness/potential/spirituality of all the characters, one that is truly released by letting go and embracing intimate relationships with others as part of a larger, meaningful community drawn together in shared struggle.** Is this a take on the renewal of creation/life/people, a unique challenge faced by the few, or purgatory?  How much of this can be or is worth exploring in the short span of 6 years of TV episodes?  Note:  Enjoyed reading the conversation at Lostwatch: All of This Matters. Wondering what's the must read site for fan reactions. Any suggestions?

For Theresa and myself, most of the first two seasons, the preview show, and the comments by friends were plenty.  It's over for us and we're letting go to move on with our family to immerse ourselves in other stories/realities.  E.g., It has been such a joy to dig into Pilgrim's Progress, the Narnia Chronicles, the Jesus Storybook, and the Biblical story with my family over the course of past several months. 

BUT I wouldn't be surprised if by popular demand LOST comes back in some form, e.g., film, novels/graphic novels (to expand on what happened on the island, off the island, more Sideways, "life after" together), video game of various sideways realities (does this or a web game of this form already exist).

Back to you, otherwise I'm letting go ... 

*How about the unitarian stained glass window with the symbols of the major world religions (not to mention Christian Shepherd) and the use of light (at the core of the island, back of the chapel).  ;-) 

**Breathe.  Please forgive the run-on.

The other evening, I picked Unbreakable (2000) off the shelf to kind-of watch while folding some newsletters.  It's been awhile since I've considered this M. Night Shyamalan classic, which didn't reach the popularity of The Sixth Sense (1999) or Signs (2002).  I figured that Theresa wouldn't have interest, but she confessed that she'd only seen parts of the film and would see how it went.  Theresa's analysis: the movie ended too sharply. Note: trailer below, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_f1uCWKZQs.

I still find the irony of the "good guy's" inability to sense his proximity to "the most evil character in the film" of great interest.  Maybe if David Dunn (played by Bruce Willis) had not lied about receiving injury at the car crash years ago (so that he could "get his girl"), he would have been more "in tune" and not need to be "mentored" into his role by "Mr. Glass," (i.e., Elijah Price played by Samuel L. Jackson). 

A search for meaning permeates the characters of the film, even the director in his brief cameo.  Where do we find meaning?  What stories do we inhabit?  Are you ready for the Way, the Truth, and the Life?  More to write, but heading out the door to receive the Word of God as part of the people of God assembled as Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ.

As I shared on Facebook, I left the island during the 2nd season. I'm curious as to what my friends who are still on the island think about re-engagement. Should I give Lost a 2nd chance by reading on-line series summaries and watching the end of the series OR watching the seasons on disc?

PS. Any more responses to As Lost Ends on ABC, Mythology Trumps Mystery?

Lost has turned fans into critics and critics, including this one, into semiprofessional fans, and in both cases you can sense that some exhaustion has set in. The mood among many of the show’s followers as they confront Sunday’s finale seems to be a mixture of regret and relief. Whatever happens ... (As Lost Ends on ABC, Mythology Trumps Mystery, Mike Hale, NY Times, 5/20/2010)

80 a day - Teen Girls Text More than Boys returns to Teens, Cell Phones and Texting: Text Messaging Becomes Centerpiece Communication (Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist, Pew Internet & American Life Project, 4/20/2010), which I draw attention to Texting is for teens ;-). This piece pulls from the data to drives home how much more girls use texting to keep in touch.

Don't think that our family can sustain that level of texting in our house, but then again maybe texting will be a thing of the past in 2-3 years ;-)

 

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

Theresa and I enjoyed hosting Bobby Gross, National Director of InterVarsity's Graduate & Faculty Ministry.  Bobby's presentations were well received (Note: pictures and stories coming).  In preparation for these gatherings, we created a year end newsletter.  Click here to prayerfully review the material and consider how you (and local communities of which you are a part) might address our current shortfall of $15,000 (out of a total ministry budget of ~ $90,000).  Please let us know if you'd like us to connect with you, a local congregation's pastor and/or missions committee as you engage in late summer/early fall budget conversations.

As we mentioned in previous materials, our fiscal year closes on June 30 and the Father has not let us down in 14 years of ministry with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.  As such, we look forward to giving testimony to God's amazing provision for this pioneering work through the people of God.

Direct gifts to "InterVarsity Christian Fellowship" P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895.  Please enclose a separate piece of paper indicating that the gift is for the work of "Tom Grosh."  On-line giving available at www.intervarsity.org/donate/to/Tom_Grosh

Thank-you to my friend Miller for passing along a note of encouragement comprised of selections from Psalm 109.  May you also find them a blessing.

   O God, whom I praise,
      don’t stand silent and aloof
2 while the wicked slander me
      and tell lies about me.
3 They surround me with hateful words
      and fight against me for no reason.
4 I love them, but they try to destroy me with accusations
      even as I am praying for them!
5 They repay evil for good,
      and hatred for my love.

21 But deal well with me, O Sovereign Lord,
      for the sake of your own reputation!
      Rescue me
      because you are so faithful and good.
22 For I am poor and needy,
      and my heart is full of pain.
23 I am fading like a shadow at dusk;
      I am brushed off like a locust.

26 Help me, O Lord my God!
      Save me because of your unfailing love.
27 Let them see that this is your doing,
      that you yourself have done it, Lord.

30 But I will give repeated thanks to the Lord,
      praising him to everyone.
31 For he stands beside the needy,
      ready to save them from those who condemn them.

Thank-you to my friend Miller for passing along a note of encouragement, comprised of selections from Psalms 18 & 30.  I shared it with the twins during our bed time readings/singing of hymns.  Note: just finished Gary Schmidt’s retelling of Pilgrims Progress (Eerdmans Press, 2008).  I commend this to all Pilgrims on the road to the Celestial City.

Psalm 18:
     I love you, Lord;
      you are my strength.
     The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
      my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
      He is my shield, the power that saves me,
      and my place of safety.
     I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
      and he saved me from my enemies
     God’s way is perfect.
      All the Lord’s promises prove true.
      He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
      For who is God except the Lord?
      Who but our God is a solid rock?
     God arms me with strength,
      and he makes my way perfect.

Psalm 30
     I will exalt you, Lord, for you rescued me.
      You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.
     O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
      and you restored my health.
     You brought me up from the grave,[a] O Lord.
      You kept me from falling into the pit of death.

     Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones!
      Praise his holy name.
     For his anger lasts only a moment,
      but his favor lasts a lifetime!
     Weeping may last through the night,
      but joy comes with the morning
    
    Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me.
      Help me, O Lord.”

    You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.
      You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with  
      joy that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.
      O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!

The anticipations mentioned in Burgh or Herb were only partly met.  Theresa and her mom made a great "Pittsburgh run" including IKEA, various old haunts (including Panera on the Blvd of the Allies), and the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

But rain and high winds prevented me from making the Landis Valley Farm Museum's Herb & Garden Faire with my parents and the girls.  Instead our family hung out with my parents in the morning/early afternoon and then with Theresa's Dad (Carl) in the evening.  At Eden's urging, evening dinner was at Wendy's. The Frosty's were very much appreciated.  Thank-you Carl!

On Sunday morning Carl swung by to attend to the younger ones as I helped the twins with their salt-and-flour maps for their state projects (i.e., Ellen's Vermont, Hayley's Montana).  We began at 6:37 am and somehow made it to the 8:30 am service.  After coming back from lunch with my parents and sister (where we played Ellen's "Sorry: Vermont Edition"), it was back to the maps until Theresa and her mom came home.  Then we all gathered together, with the addition of Carl's parents, for a Mother's Day Chinese Take Out Meal at Theresa's parents. The maps were finished off in the evening under Theresa's guidance as I tucked the younger two into bed.

During our adult elective, Jim asked us to consider "what controls we rely upon to get tasks done, to live life" (Tom's rephrasing).  Quite simply, I could not do what I do in ministry except by the gift of living in close proximity to family who care for us and are present with us each step of the way.  This weekend is a great example.  

But one could live in close proximity to caring family and not relate in a mutually beneficial/encouraging manner.  Our perception of our relationship to our family and the part which we play in the Story/Mission of God is vital.  Each day when I awake I am reminded that I have "One more day."  It is God's intention to shape me more and more into the image of His Son Christ Jesus as an individual (i.e., make me a new creation as I was originally intended to be) and a member of the Body of Christ (Kingdom of God/Church) and to bless others (neighbor/creation) through this on-going transformation in such a manner that it will advance His plans/purposes to the praise of His Glory! 

A few weeks ago *CultureIsNotOptional's (*CINO) Daily Asterisk drew a quote from Brian Walsh & Sylvia Keesmaat's Colossians Remixed (Downers Grove, IL:  InterVarsity Press, 2004). I kept it on hold for Mother's Day.  It's been awhile since I've read this commentary, I would be interested in looking up this quote to read it in context.

Sexual sin is sin not because it is sexual but because it is invariably covetous.  It replaces the pleasure and sexual enjoyment of two people in a loving relationship with a self-centered gratification of sexual longings that can never be fulfilled apart from commitment.  Such sin breaks the back of trust that is at the heart of community...

 

A friend passed along to us Forbes.com names Pittsburgh 'most livable' (Sally Kalson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 5/3/2010).  Yes, it was a great place to live and engage in campus ministry.  Maybe that's why Theresa's "running back" to participate in Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure with her mom on Mother's Day ;-) Hope she enjoys her visit to our old "haunts."

As for the rest of us, if it doesn't rain, I'm heading in a different direction in order to take the kids to the Landis Valley Farm Museum's Herb & Garden Faire.  I truly wouldn't be doing this without the help of my parents!  BTW, the twins love Landis Valley Farm Museum, and I wouldn't be surprised if the younger two do also, it seems to be in the blood which runs in both of our families.  

Thank-you to my friend Miller who passed along the below reflection:

It's so funny to hear students in math say, "I didn't do any homework because I haven't caught on yet."... They're waiting for an epiphany before doing anything. ... Something to drop down from the sky. ... One senior said, "I am not applying for any employment until God tells me where He wants me."  Someone said "You can't steer a parked car."  The Israelites could have stood back from a mile from the sea and waited until they saw it turn into dry ground, maybe send engineers ahead to test whether the ground was solid enough, and then tentatively walk toward it. ... Instead the waters didn't part until they stepped in. ...

I said to _____, "I can imagine someone sitting on the edge of a swimming pool and saying I won't go in the water until I know how to swim."  ... Many writers find they can't start to write until they start to write. ... They get paralzyed sitting around waiting for inspiration. ... The inspiration comes as we jump in and do it. ...Students I had in computer programming often said, "I didn't do anything, I didn't know what to do." ... I said, "Just start, write a very simple version first. ... Just do it. ... And then the ideas will begin to come."

A former dept chair said "Math is not a spectator sport."... _____ is doing shot put for track. ... Did you just watch someone throw the shot put and say, "It looks easy. ... I tried it once and didn't catch on, so I quit." ..."Oh taste and see that the Lord is good."  Second Peter says, "Don't sit around wondering whether you're saved. ... Begin to add to your knowledge practice. ... Then it will become clear your standing with God." ... Don't sleep so close to the edge of the bed, that you could fall out at any moment. ...

Credo ut intelligam. ... Not the other way around "I understood, and then believed."  "Those who will to do God's will, will know if it's true," Jesus said. ... Forrmer pastor of Mt. Lebanon UP said, "Nothing makes an old truth shine as putting it into practice."... Faith without works is dead.

If you haven't already, I'd encourage you to take a few minutes to swing by and wrestle with Where did you find your megaphone? -- http://blog.emergingscholars.org/2010/05/where-did-you-find-your-megaphone  It's the first post in an Emerging Scholars Network Blog series on cultivating your voice and finding your audience while in graduate school.  Great to have another blogger involved with the Emerging Scholars Network Blog and I'm really looking forward to what challenging material Janine Giordano* has to share with us over the course of the next several weeks!

*a graduate student and ESN member from the University of Illinois. When she is not teaching, she spends most of her time working on her dissertation, Between Religion and Politics: The Working Class Religious Left, 1886-1936.

 

 

Here's an excerpt from an excellent Op-Ed piece regarding differences of educational perspective (what is taught, how, toward what end, and at what price).  Note: in the fall, our three oldest children will be in public school with some playful exploration of additional educational opportunities at home, in our local congregation, and through summer programming.  Wish we could do it all, but there are limits to our time, energy, finances, and resources.  Any thoughts on the article from friends who have decided to invest in homeschooling, charter school, or Christian school?

Cognitive ability, personality and motivation come mostly from home. What happens in the classroom can have some effect, but smart and motivated children will tend to learn to read and do math even with poor instruction, while not-so-smart or unmotivated children will often have trouble with those subjects despite excellent instruction. If test scores in reading and math are the measure, a good school just doesn’t have that much room to prove it is better than a lesser school.

As an advocate of school choice, all I can say is thank heavens for the Milwaukee results. Here’s why: If my fellow supporters of charter schools and vouchers can finally be pushed off their obsession with test scores, maybe we can focus on the real reason that school choice is a good idea. Schools differ in what they teach and how they teach it, and parents care deeply about both, regardless of whether test scores rise. -- Why Charter Schools Fail the Test (Charles Murray. NY Times Op-Ed, May 4, 2010)

 

 

In case you haven't already come across it, I have another post on Wisdom Chaser: Finding My Father at 14,000 Feet (Nathan Foster. InterVarsity Press. 2010) at the ESN Blog.  Visit Wisdom Chaser: Insights on Parent-Child Relationships.

 

Bobby Gross

Director of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's Graduate & Faculty Ministry

At last week's Graduate & Faculty Team Meetings, God deepened my passion for long-term Kingdom labor in higher education.  As such, I ask you to intercede for the preparations for these upcoming gatherings and all the related appointments which have been coming together over the past several days. This is a significant time of envisioning and developing the support base (financial, resource, volunteer) for a growing pioneering work among Christian Scholars, Emerging Scholars, Health Care Professionals, and those who desire to be engaged in Culture Making.

If you are in Central PA, please try to join us for an evening in which you can hear testimony of God's amazing work on campus not only from myself, but also Bobby Gross, Director of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's Graduate and Faculty Ministries, and some with whom we minister.  Please RSVP to tgrosh4 at gmail.com by May 10 ...

Married and seeking some group think advice on your mattress pad flipping?  Then Steven Strogatz, professor of applied mathematics at Cornell University, has come to the rescue.  My question after reading Strogatz's NY Times Opinion Piece is whether we're finding an example of integrating academic and practical living OR if this is what is necessary for certain academics to understand practical living (and hopeful put the skills in practice).  My feeling is that many figured have this out by just doing it.  But maybe not.  Any testimonies or confessions? "Theresa, what do you think about this?"

Due to the press of time, I did little else than page through Crucial Confrontations:  Tools for resolving broken promises, violated expectations, and bad behavior (Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Al Switzler, Ron McMillan. McGraw-Hill Companies: 2004).  But maybe that was all it was worth as it builds upon Crucial Conversations and I am not currently looking for tools for Crucial Confrontations. Praise God!  Below is the pattern (maintained with focus/flexibility):

• Work on yourself first:  Ask what you want and if this is a crucial confrontation to enter (don't make excuses), Master Your Stories
• Confront with safety:  Describe the Gap, Make it Motivating, Make it Easy
• Move to action:  Agree on a plan to follow-up

Makes sense.  Time's up.  I'll return when time permits. 

As you may summize from my post Stack of Kerry Patterson, I entered Crucial Conversations: Tools for talking when stakes are high (Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Al Switzler, Ron McMillan. McGraw-Hill Companies: 2002) with some skepticism.  None-the-less, I was willing to give Vital Smarts a second try and it was worth it.

What is a crucial conversation?

A discussion between two or more people where (1) stakes are high, (2) opinions vary, and (3) emotions run strong (p.3).

How does we approach crucial conversations?

• Avoid
• Face and handle poorly
• Face and handle well (p.3)

Yes, so what do the authors recommend with regard to handling crucial conversations well?  They begin by outlining why things go wrong.

• Our design [Note:  this is defined socially, adding material on the Fall & Original Sin would improve this section]
• Pressure
• Stumped, i.e., don't know where to start 
• Self-defeating responses

Then they point out "changing structures and systems alone did little to improve performance" [in organizations]. ... In the best companies, everyone holds everyone else accountable -- regardless of level or position.  The path to high productivity passes not through a static sytem, but through face-to-face conversations at all levels. ... In truth everyone argues about important issues.  But not everyone splits up.  It's how you argue that matters." (p.10-11).  Amen!  Preach it!  An excellent introduction to "Mastering Crucial Conversations:  The Power of Dialogue."

What is dialogue?

The free flow of meaning between two or more people.

The authors point out that we seek to grow the Pool of Shared Meaning, which is the birthplace of synergy, as we engage in crucial conversations (p.23).  And how do we go about crucial conversations:

• Start with the Heart [i.e., proper understanding of self (including wanted and unwanted in the crucial conversation) and relationship with those in crucial conversation]
• Learn to observe when one is part of a crucial conversation or has become a part of a crucial conversation.  
  • Physical, Emotional, Behavioral signs
  • Watch for safety concerns
  • Understand how you respond to stress
  • Establish dialogue create a safe environment for crucial conversation
    • Apologize
    • Contrast one's intentions versus how one has been understood/portrayed
    • CRIB (p.92)
      • Commit to seek Mutual Purpose
      • Recognize the Purpose Behind the Strategy
      • Invent a Mutual Purpose
      • Brainstorm new strategies
• Telling the story well by
  • Retracing your path to action:  action, feeling, telling story, see/hear
  • Telling the whole story instead of a clever story which takes one off the hook by creating villian(s), victim(s), and helpless
  • STATE (p.124)
    
    • Share your facts
    • Tell your story
    • Ask for others' paths
    • Talk tentatively
    • Encourage testing
• Listening to stories which are shared with you (p.159)
  
  • AMPP
    • Ask
    • Mirror
    • Paraphrase
    • Prime
  • ABC
    • Agree
    • Build
    • Compare
• Decide How to Decide (p.178)
  • Command
  • Consult
  • Vote
  • Consensus
  • "Determine who does what by when.  Make the deliverables crystal clear.  Set a follow-up time.  Record the commitments and then follow up.  Finally, hold people accountable to their promises.

In simplist terms, Learn to look.  Make it safe for everyone to contribute (p.180-181).

"As the years went by, it seemed I [Nathan Foster] saw less and less of my father [Richard Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline] and cared less and less about his absence.  At some point I shifted from wanting him to be home, counting down the days to when he would return, and eagerly greeting him at the airport, to not knowing when he was gone or home and caring even less.

As a child, I was proud of my dad.  Hearing him speak to crowds filled me with excitement; perhaps he would mention my name, or tell a story about me, or in some way acknowledge his home life.  At first I think I accepted that God was using my dad to help people.  Later I felt mildly ambivalent about the fact that God seemed to need my dad.  Somewhere along the way, my feelings shifted to embarrassment and anger that Dad had "holier work" to do.  By thirteen I was filled with rage, and I shut down." -- Wisdom Chaser: Finding My Father at 14,000 Feet (Nathan Foster. InterVarsity Press. 2010, p.29).

Reconciliation/healing occurs through father-son (twenty-something) mountain climbing ... still reading.  Excellent book.  Personal reflections/applications related to family coming ...

What is Clay Shirky's* formula for success?  The "fusion of a plausible promise, an effective tool, and an acceptable bargain with the users.  The promise is the basic 'why' for anyone to join or contribute to a group.  The tool helps with the 'how' -- how will the difficulties of coordination be overcome, or at least be held to manageable levels?   And the bargain sets the rules of the road:  if you are interested in the promise and adopt the tool, what can you expect, and what will be expected of you?" (p.260, bold added)  And be sure to have the components in that order!

Simple?  No.  Why?  "[B]ecause the interactions among the different components is too complex" (p.261).  I particularly appreciated Clay Shirky pointing out that social media isn't selling a product, but calling people to come together to make a product.  I have found that to be the rub, sometimes leading a blog such as this to have more of the appearance of website.  Is it a failure?  No.  I'm not only feeding Groshlink into Facebook, but also I'm using it more and more as a resource for those interested in learning more about our ministry.  With regard to Facebook's move from 'fan' pages to 'like' pages, my gut reaction is that more 'members' decreases the potential for these groups to move toward direct 'real world' action.  The proposal of local clustering makes a lot of sense to me, one which I've thinking about for Emerging Scholars Network and Faculty Ministry.  Clay Shirky's two questions regarding tools are quite good:  'Does the group need to be small or large?' and 'Does it need to be short-lived or long-lived?'" (p.266)

What do we do with all the group forming, e.g., Facebook's 'like' feature?  How long until the young are displaced and find themselves in the midst of a culture in which they did not grow up?  Hope to have another post which draws together my overall response to the book.  I don't have the time to do such at present :-(  Maybe it's good to hang open in order to let the ideas flow, as long as I get back them.

*Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organization (Clay Shirky. NY, NY: Penguin Press, 2008).

Here Comes Everybody: Chapter 1
Here Comes Everybody: Chapter 2
Here Comes Everybody: Chapter 3
Here Comes Everybody: Chapter 4
Here Comes Everybody: Chapter 5
Here Comes Everybody: Chapter 6
Here Comes Everybody: Chapter 7-8
Here Comes Everybody: Chapter 9-10

I'll have to ask my mom if I did the best in school when I gave the most resistance to drop-off at the classroom door, sometimes without any signs beforehand.  That is data we're compiling as we read the reports from the preschool instructors (and therapists) after tough drop-offs, such as Friday's.  Anyone else have similar experience?

Note:  It's not a universal rule which has carried over to Sunday School drop-off :(  We'll see what's in store for tomorrow.  Ready to head out to Maytown celebrations!  Hope everyone's cheerful after their naps.