The Praxis Model

I think it gets my mind going when i think about the praxis model. I think it's literally the most practical way to do ministry and really get Kingdom ethics played out in our church culture today. I think I realized how disconnected I am from the church but I think in a healthy way. I think I am far enough away to realize that I am not as broken and sad about the state of the church and soon to be ready to jump back in and love people for who they are and not what a systematic theology wants people to be. I think the praxis model enables love without boundaries and get people invested and reconciled within their local communities.

Monday Class

Monday we discussed the issues regarding language as well as the state of modernity/postmodernity. I am really glad we didn't really do group work with the praxis model. It was a breath of fresh air to continue the discussion of how these social practices influence our daily lives and ultimately affects how and why we do church. The more I wrestle with these complex issues the more immanent it seems to become that we need to discuss the cross over discussion in our church and local communities. How we make meaning and hold these with the identity of language and post-modernism is important.

My So Called Life

I spent the last few weeks watching My So Called Life. I loved this show when I was in middle school and loved it even more now. The story lines were smart and simple, yet carried weight and understanding of what it is really like to be a high school student, rather than the shows that highlight overpriced bags, unfortunate fashion, and bad haircuts.

Claire Danes is so cute and interesting. She carries emotion and the character of Angela so well. She is smart, funny, and she does this interesting lip quiver thing when she is about to cry. The shows script is so well written and I love the quirky characters. I love that they have the characters have the same clothing that they wear in multiple episodes.

I am going to take a time out and talk about my love for the fashion in this show. I love the flannel. I love the flannel on flannel. I love the dr. martens she wore with slouchy black socks. I love that Jared Leto always wore those striped sweaters. I love that Ray Ann always had these crazy put together outfits with that sack bag. I love the fashion and if you see me lately I will be wearing flannel. I love it and I desire to bring it back.

It's interesting to watch this show as an adult. I liked following the mom character and how hard core she was to following the rules and the American way of life than sitting back and listening to what her kids are going through. I guess I am wrestling with the ideas and identity of perfection. I think it's hard growing up and knowing how to do the right thing. What is this right thing anymore? What are we trying to do and how are we trying to live? Are we going to get over the fact that there isn't really one right way to live? and to love?

I am not sure if there are answers for this. When I finished watching the season I realized how good it was and how relevant it still is today. I think we are still wrestling with these issues with students there are just different clothes and different musical tastes but the issues are still the same.

Television, praxis, and human nature

Barker: Television
I find it fascinating that all people draw meaning and find meaning in art in different ways. For this chapter it really hit me that we all come to television shows with different perceptions and we bring in our stories to make and find meaning. How we interpret the texts is really a valuable tool. How we do this in television could easily brought into our Christian practices and how we read the biblical text as well as practice how to decipher this meaning and practice. I think television helps bring a national identity as well as new global meaning.

Urban Spaces:
I like tying the practices of watching television shows with than watching how we practice our lives in public spaces. The need and identity of community is important and valuable with meaning making. We bring ourselves to these public spaces and then attempt to build or identify community in these public spaces. I like to think that we can also transfer the idea of sacred space into these public spaces and add another element to making meaning and practicing meaning in these spheres. I hope that as the church we can lower boundaries and limitations of where we can find sacred space and WE place new meaning to spaces that we pass in everyday life.

Cobb: Human Nature
I think we can easily tie in Cobb's chapter on human nature with the way we practice life in Barkers two chapters. Who we are and what we desire and WHY we desire these things are important questions to ask. We can see that life can imitate art or art imitating life. I think that was clear in this chapter as Cobb tries to explain where we find and make meaning and how that interacts with our spiritual nature. I think he offers new conclusions of how it affects our Christian identity but I believe that it doesn't offer hope in how we can repurpose this with new education. How do we understand and make meaning with these multimedia practices?

Bevans: Praxis Model
The praxis model shows that we can bring liberation and freedom to our ministry goals and potential. I think this model isn't presented as the most universal theory but I think it offers new ways to live our lives and where we can offer freedom from oppression. I think this model works if we are able to come into it with a foundation of desire to offer a freedom but it must not be confined to the church but be able to work with governments and power structures that continue to perpetuate the oppress nature of the system. The model has it's faults but done in the right way could be revolutionary.

Comment on Joe's blog:
like your thoughts on this post. I like that you brought up the fact that skin and clothes can be basically the same identity. I like that you brought this up and that it translate to our everyday life experience. It's amazing how much we can find God in our everyday life experiences and find experiences in the most mundane parts of our days.

I was also waiting for the negative from Cobb and he showed me that he could make connections with our everyday experiences and the culture. Though he really didn't offer hope. How do we find hope in all of these connections with our everyday experiences?

predictable

I have felt unoriginal and boring lately. Somedays I realize that I run in this perpetual circle that every few moths mimics a few months before that. I don't know why I feel like this. I have really great things going on in my life and the potential for a full and free life seems more and more attainable on a regular basis. The sun is still shining here and the opportunities can pop up at any time.

I still feel boring though.
I have on a shirt I bought in 2002.
I usually maneuaver in a three block radius.
I haven't bought anything other than food since Christmas.
I haven't gone to a show since.....I don't even remember.
I haven't seen a movie in a month.
I need my hair cut.

I don't think this is complaining but a realization I need to get a move on with trying new things and not being afraid of the unknown. Moving in patterns of recognition is safe and maybe this is the calm before the storm but it makes me restless. But I keep laughing and making weird noises and sporadic movements. Kind of like the scene in Garden State when Natalie Portman does the finger-noise thing in her bedroom, that thing she does when she feels unoriginal.

Here's to hoping for new beginnings.
Here is to so much more.

Wednesday Class: Modern and Postmodern

I realize that I hate group work. Not that I don't like the people I am in class with but I enjoy hearing theory and how does that relate with our contemporary church culture. I wish we could draw the connections together in class. How do we take this theory and make it practical? I think the modern (first and second_ or postmodern thought is really important. How does these push against one another and how do they interact with our everyday lives?

We live in a current space where consumerism is key and our worth is based on what we have and what we believe. How does this play in our lives and what are we doing with this with our thoughts and practices?

I know I have ideas and this is what I should continue to process and write my paper on.

A Culture of Fear?

I have been doing ALOT of school work lately. In the spare moments in between reading and assignments I steal moments of pleasure and get to read magazines. I love them. I want a lot of them but only have small moments to read a few of them. This month I have been working on ideas about hip hop culture and bought the new issue of Bust because I love it and it also had Eve on the cover.

The issue is interesting because it had an article about a woman who rode her bike from Winnepeg to Texas all by herself in less than two months. The one question she heard repeatedly was 'aren't you scared?' She explained that she was scared because everyone offered her a scenario that freaked her out. The only thing that was was a problem on her trip was that a racoon attacked her bag but not a scratch happened by another human being.

The question was raised of why are we so afraid? Why do we fear the unknown to a crippling degree?

I have been reading a book entitled After God by Mark Taylor. He offers that if we approach life within a post-modern context that we would discover our creativity and the ability to live within a space of unpredictability as well as being insecure and often times random. I think fear gets displaced in this setting. Why are we so afraid and why does fear limit us so?

I had the chance to lecture at a Women's History class at Pasadena City College. In the class I got the chance to offer hope for women and men to look at their gifts and talents as they encounter feminism. In the class I heard a bit of fear. Fear that change would disrupt their lives and that would not be a positive things but almost a negative. Change and fear work hand in hand often times. I think I am wrestling with this idea because fear and change are wrestling inside me. I graduate sooner than later and that promises that things will have to change and I will need to find a new way to use my time.

What do we do to ease our fears?
How do we move ahead without being chained to our fears?

These are my questions...what are your thoughts?