all in the (blogging) family?

In John's weekly profile of Methodist bloggers for Locusts and Honey, one of the questions he always asks is: Can you name a major moral, political, or intellectual issue on which you've changed your mind?I responded saying that most of my views on issues have changed at least somewhat over time, been nuanced differently, matured in ways. I think all of us probably change and grow, sometimes for better, sometimes in less positive ways.

I began thinking: what makes us change? What influences us to take a step in a new direction? For example, I used to think vegetarians were silly. Then I became one. And now I'm a vegan. My prostletizing-vegan brother was one big influence in that decision, and other things led to this decision as well - many factors, to make a gradual shift in my thinking.

Then I think about the conversations that go on in blogs in the comments section. I love blogging, and I love reading the blogs of others of all different viewpoints. Some of my favorite blogs are those with views who are most different than my own - I'm drawn by intelligent and/or hilariously witting writing. And readers of my own blog often comment that they don't agree with much I say, but still enjoy my blog. In my mind, this is one of the most valuable parts of blogging - bringing together of people who otherwise aren't usually together.

Where I turn less appreciate of blog conversations is when it seems like we're all saying the same things all the time. Talking, posting, commenting at each other instead of with each other. I hold myself part of this group, of course. Recently I've been joining in (a little) and following (a lot) a post Shane made at Wesleyblog, since, as a board member, my ears always perk up for GBCS-related posts. My comments and the comments of others are interesting, but the same, it seems, as the comments and posts we make about other related things. If Jim Winkler says something, some will have one (predictable) reaction and others will have a different (predictable) one. If George Bush says something, I'll have one (predictable) reaction and others will have a different (predictable) one.

This is when I get frustrated. Do we have anything new to say? Can even blogs be a channel of growth and change instead of a channel for having the same conversations over and over again?

What makes you change your views on things? How have others opened your eyes to a different way of thinking? Maybe blogs don't need to be agents of change, but it'd be cool if they could be...

Locusts & Honey: Methodist Blogger Profile: Beth Quick

John from Locusts and Honey profiled me here in his series of Methodist Blogger Profiles. Turns out too that John and I went to college together, overlapping for a little bit of our respective college careers. Amazingly small world.

unconverting

I'm 'unconverting' from Haloscan for comments back to blogger. No trackback, but I like the commenting feature for blogger better than haloscan. the blogger comments from before are back, but the week or so of haloscan comments are gone...

ecclesiastes 3:1-2

a time for everything...
In my community, several area pastors take a week at a time rotation at our local hospital to serve as chaplains. We are called in whenever there is a "code blue", a death, or a baby born in distress. The hospital is fairly small, and has bigger hospitals on to the East and West where bigger emergencies get sent, so usually a week of being on call results in 2 or 3 trips to the hospital.
I was called in once this week, in the early morning. I live quite close to the hospital, so I arrived before any family did, and while the nursing staff was still working on the code blue patient. I watched as they performed CPR on him, and watched as he eventually died, and watched as they declared his time of death. It was all very non-"ER" - the health care workers did what they needed to do, then moved on to the next things. The wife of the 90 year-old man came in and was a little teary, but talked about life, and how this is just what happens, and how she was expecting to soon join her husband due to her own health concerns. I said a prayer for her husband, and she went back home.
I was just struck by the persistence of life, of the world, to keep going, keep happening, even in the midst of the end of one life, one season of grief. This same week, I celebrated graduation with many of our high-school students - as they stand poised at that new juncture of life, so much just around the corner for them...
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die;"

numbers in the UMC

Dean at Untied Methodist has a great post here about the membership and worship attendance reports that are rolling out of UMC annual conference sessions, with great analysis and questions of what the figures mean. I too had noticed that numbers are down not just in the Northeast or in the West, but also in the Southeastern and Southcentral Jurisdictions (in some conferences) which surprised me.

Numbers are tricky - and sometimes I think we worry about them too much - but we want the church to grow for more than just our own selfish reasons (I hope) - we want people to experience Christ, experience grace, and be a part of a community of faith. How do we help make that happen?

Lions free kidnapped girl

Check out this story fromCNN.com, which reports a girl kidnapped in Ethiopia who was saved from her attackers by lions! A different take on Daniel in the lion's den maybe, eh? Animals are so amazing - we think we have their behaviors pinned down, explained, and they do things so surprising to us...

more on detainees from A Religious Liberal Blog

Found here at A Religious Liberal Blog is this list from Amensty of alleged practices used on or authorized for use detainees:

Abduction
Barbed wire, forced to walk barefoot on
Blindfolding
"Burking" – hand over detainee’s mouth/nose to prevent breathing
Cell extraction, brutal/punitive use of
Chemical/pepper spray, misuse of
Cigarette burns
Claustrophia-inducing techniques, e.g. tied headfirst in sleeping bag, shut in lockers
Death threats
Dietary manipulation
Dogs used to threaten and intimidate
Dousing in cold water
Electric shocks, threats of electric shocks
Exposure to weather and temperature extremes, especially via air-conditioning
Flags, wrapped in Israeli or US flags during or prior to interrogation
Food and water deprivation
Forced shaving, ie of head, body or facial hair
Forcible injections, including with unidentified substances
Ground, forced to lie on bare ground while agents stand on back or back of legs
Hooding
Hostage-taking, i.e. individuals detained to force surrender of relatives
Humiliation, eg forced crawling, forced to make animal noises, being urinated upon.
Immersion in water to induce perception of drowning
Incommunicado detention
Induced perception of suffocation or asyphxiation
Light deprivation
Loud music, noise, yelling
Mock execution
Photography and videoing as humiliation
Physical assault, eg punching, kicking, beatings with hands, hose, batons, guns, etc
Physical exercise to the point of exhaustion, e.g. "ups and downs", carrying rocks
Piling, i.e. detainee is sat on or jumped on by one or more people ("dog/pig pile")
Prolonged interrogations, eg 20 hours
Racial and religious taunts, humiliation
Relatives, denial of access to, excessive censorship of communications with
Religious intolerance, eg disrespect for Koran, religious rituals
Secret detention
Secret transfer
Sensory deprivation
Sexual humiliation
Sexual assault
Shackles and handcuffs, excessive and cruel use of. Includes "short shackling"
Sleep adjustment
Sleep deprivation
Solitary confinement for prolonged periods, eg months or more than a year
Stress positions, eg prolonged forced kneeling and standing
Stripping, nudity, excessive or humiliating use of
Strip searches, excessive or humiliating use of
Strobe lighting
Suspension, with use of handcuffs/shackles
Threat of rape
Threats of reprisals against relatives
Threat of transfer to third country to inspire fear of torture or death
Threat of transfer to Guantánamo
Threats of torture or ill-treatment
Twenty-four hour bright lighting
Withdrawal of "comfort items", including religious items
Withholding of information, e.g. not telling detainee where he is
Withholding of medication
Withholding of toilet facilities, leading to defecation and urination in clothing