As part of my time on a retreat this past weekend, I spent a few hours at the Frederick Rescue Mission, where we served dessert at lunch on
Saturday. I noticed that lots of folks who came in to eat had cell phones, which is awesome! And,
thinking about this in light of our class, I’m wondering: Do we have potential
for connectedness with a different part of the population because of an
ever-widening access to social media/technology? What might it look like?
Perhaps making accessible online, in one location, information about places
that provide food, shelter, and resources? Having power strips, chargers, and
wifi available in open and accessible places? What do you think?
The experience of being there was enjoyable and meaningful. Four of
us stood behind the table laden with cookies (this was my department), cake,
pie, and fudge. The carrot cake went first, followed by the fudge. I tried
peddling my cookies - chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, and what I
called “Ravens cookies” (soft sugar cookies with purple frosting and yellow
sprinkles). I was sure to point out what was what, because there’s nothing
worse that expecting a bite of gooey chocolate chip goodness and actually
biting into oatmeal raisin. Ugh. Oatmeal raisin is breakfast food, not a
cookie!
But, I digress - this
was really a fun spot to be, passing out dessert, talking to a bunch of folks
as they came up, and jumping in to conversations about football with the guys
at the surrounding tables. After we had been there for a while, a guy sitting
at a table about five feet away said something along the lines of, “You know,
you have a great attitude! You make dessert seem like the best thing ever.” I
was struck by this. Usually, isn’t dessert great anyway, regardless of the
attitude with which it is served? But, I think what he was pointing to was that
I wasn’t just handing out dessert, I was engaging in friendly banter with folks
as they came up to the table, giving a smile, connecting. We had some inkling
of relationship, even if the encounter was brief and centered on cookies.
This relates to a few things from class today. First, we
have this on-going theme of relationality. As humans, we’re relational beings,
and part of the reason social media is so popular is that it provides different
ways of being relational, of sustaining relationships already present and
making possible new ones with folks we might not otherwise encounter.
Second, one of the exercises we did was to watch two
commercials: Samsung’s “Are You Geared Up???” and Apple’s “Misunderstood”. As
we watched, we thought about what each commercial was “selling,” underneath the
product itself, and asked, “What’s the need/desire being evoked?” While what we
talk about on social media, or in sermons, or in short encounters with others
may not be so directly bent on “selling” something, we have to be mindful of the
message underneath the message, so to speak. Who’s connecting to it, and why?
Kerri, I appreciate your comments about how to make on-line access available to a wide range of people. In the past, a number of shelters often made their addresses available to their guests, because one needed to have a "home address" for a variety of government services. Has this now broadened to making sure that everyone has access to a "home e-mail address?" One place where this might happen is in the public library, which makes computer access available to the public.
ReplyDeleteIda, great point. It is interesting to think about the similarities in the importance/benefits of having a physical address as well as an email address. I wonder, too, what sort of online activity folks may have had before whatever event(s) took place that led to homelessness, and how that activity is or is not sustained (and the ramifications either way).
DeleteI've also wondered about increasing access and I think it would be interesting for churches to open up their WiFi for guests. For those churches that are in urban areas with homeless populations it could provide a meaningful ministry to have a semi sheltered area with power and internet access for those in need.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't even thinking about this until I saw some pictures from the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, where shelters/churches/places with generators provided power strips (and the pictures were of a ton of cords sprouting from each power strip). Cell phones are awesome, until the battery dies and they're worthless! Especially with the decreasing number of folks with landlines, access to electricity becomes especially important.
DeleteI agree that this would be a really meaningful ministry. And, I wonder what the reasons would be to not do it. Cost? Security risks?
Thanks for sharing this experience! It brings up a perspective that is sometimes difficult for us to relate to nowadays - lack of access or prohibitive access to the internet. As our culture changes and social media becomes even more knit into the fabric of who we are as Americans, how we use these tools to the glory of God becomes a relevant question! I will keep you posted on www.theparallelbible.com as it continues to be developed and added to, but it's one of many neat ways that people can connect as a biblical community. Connectedness also allows us to respond faster to tragedies. One of Amy's classmates recently died suddenly from a faulty heart valve, and now they are using the internet to coordinate a support effort by raising money for their classmate's family. This hits close to home for me, but it's a joy to see people able to have less and less of an excuse to provide a kind word or a send a few dollars to someone in need, all through the connectedness from the tool of social media and internet. We can be more responsive to needs within our communities and churches from the increased velocity of information and awareness from social media. I loved the imagery of you "peddling" cookies - sounds like you used some tactics from "Don't Let Pigeon Drive the Bus!"
ReplyDeleteP.S. You make a great point about dessert. Oatmeal Raisin is INDEED for breakfast and not for cookies. Blech, I hate when that tragic bite happens...
But, Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies on the other hand...
Brent! Thank you for avoiding any snarky comments about how you live in Florida now while is in the negatives here in PA :)
Delete1) Thanks for bringing up www.theparallelbible.com - I remember you telling me about it last year! I'm glad to have it back on my radar.
2) "Don't Let Pigeon Drive the Bus!" is so, so wonderful!
3) So is oatmeal chocolate chip anything!
Hi Kerri, I love your background photo - I feel like I'm hiking and can't wait to see what is around the bend and "over the hill"! Your cookie duty reminded me of our turn at the 2003 Anthem Bay Bridge Marathon providing water to the runners and then collecting the discarded paper cups. It was a joy to cheer the runners "hitting the wall" and encourage them to toss their cups into the garbage like a basketball layup to make "two points!". Many runners seemed briefly entertained by the sportscasting-like commentary, though I felt embarrassed when some who missed turned around, came back to pick up their cup and take another shot before continuing their marathon.
ReplyDeleteTo bring this story back to the topic of to connecting - at someone's (your) encouragement to volunteer together, we put ourselves out on the bridge at 4 am, met some runners where they were in their struggle and shared a brief relationship in the interaction as they reciprocated with their smiles, laughter and participation. A blog provides a similar opportunity to connect.
Dad, I was actually thinking of that very event while we were passing out desserts! There is so much joy in being encouraging to others, even complete strangers. I remember how it was so cool to see how you were able to connect with the runners (all strangers!) doing something as mundane as collecting trash! Good memories!
DeleteI think your cookie duty sounded fun and I must say carrot cake is my favorite! I think social media has the potential to really help connect us with others from around the world. I know my church back home is very active in starting up a church in Rwanda and communicating with them would be impossible if not for social media. I also think its really neat that I can indulge in my love of traveling by watching peoples travel videos from different parts of the world so even if I can't travel to Ecuador right now I can still "experience" it via social media. I think we need to be careful not to replace all interaction with social media and machines but part of being human is wanting to connect with other humans and social media has really made this a wonderful reality.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this story. I've never thought about having wifi available for our members at the church. This is an interesting idea as we expect when we go to any public location, such as a library or college campus, but is not a church or other outreach/ministry public too?
ReplyDelete