CT Diocese Workshop Links and Files

Hi new Bloggers!  Here’s the set of links from our workshop at Diocesan Convention.

Personal Blogs:

http://www.clwebber.com/blog/

http://vagabondpriest.blogspot.com/

Professional Blogs:

http://www.stjohnspinemeadow.blogspot.com/

http://trinitylimerock.blogspot.com/

Group and Short Term Blogs:

http://episcopalchurch.typepad.com/lambethjournal/2008/07/serving-togethe.html

http://missiontrip.wordpress.com/

Other Blogs we may use in the presentation or that you may want to check out:

http://episcopalchurch.typepad.com/episcope/

http://www.episcopalcafe.com/

http://beautytipsforministers.com/

You’ll notice that some of these blogs are hosted on BlogSpot while others are on WordPress (like this one).  Each blog will have further links to use to step out afield and see other blogs. RSS your favorites, and then enjoy the blogosphere!

As well, here are the files from the workshop:

Slideshow: bloggingworkshop1

Contact Info Sheet:Contact Info and other links

“The Blogging Church” critique and airplanes

Finishing my close reading of “The Blogging Church” as I flew home for diocesan convention, I realize how quickly things change.  Brian Bailey’s tips and cautions all ring true for me so long as I accept the premise that blogging is what it is.  I think there may be more, though.  For all of us who like to write stuff and have folks comment back, I believe most will not.  This poses the biggest problem for blogging in the traditional sense that the book presents so well.

I certainly plan to put into action what Brian has said in my own work as a neophyte blogger (but how long will I stay a neophyte if I follow his advice?).  But I see in the architecture of blogging many other possibilities.  The private blog that I have helped start at my church is still going almost six months after we had planned to end it.  That blog is designed around several folks sharing with each other their thoughts and reflections as they read the Bible together.  There, in the privacy of their own blog, they could take advantage of the blogosphere’s design and see their thoughts and relationships develop over time.

Traditional blogging?  Not even close.  They are not trying to get more readers, or develop more Google hits, or even let their own personal feelings and reflections become part of the wider blog world.  But, by using the blog’s inherent design, which promotes this kind of sharing and growing together, they are discovering the Bible to be what it really is, a living, breathing Word.  I don’t think any other forum save a daily in-person prayer time could do the same.  With the way we choose to live today, there simply is not the opportunity for this kind of communal sharing any other way.

This blog is for the wider world, but I hope that blogging can be even more than that.  I hope blogging can help develop the inner world, too.  Hmmm.  All these thoughts while gripping the handrest of an airplane with all my strength.  Look what miracles God can do.

Read “The Shack”…now back to the Bible

So I read The Shack on my day off this week and I must say that it overall is a good book.  Like all things that touch on theology, they come up short in some areas.  But the plot is moving, I certainly had an emotional response to Mack’s encounters, and it ended very well.  Could there have been more? Sure.  Is the author someone I overall theologically agree with?  I can say yes to this, too.

I was very happy to see the emphasis on relationship over rule making.  I have to love it when a popular book comes along that denies the fundamentalist rule making theology that we hear so much about.  As well Young does yeoman’s work trying to make a plot around encountering what is truly the mystery of the Trinity.  This part of the book alone will spark many a good conversation over the Trinitarian foundation of our faith, and it is a conversation well worth having.

Other parts, though, raise more difficult questions.  The author boldly states that the institutional church is not part of God’s desire for us.  Two issues conflict with this.  First is the author’s convincing argument that we are meant to imitate the Godhead’s Trinitarian relationship with one another.  We are to be drawn together into relationship.  Yes there is almost limitless sinfulness in how we then go and label and define that relationship, denying in myriad ways the uniqueness and Spirit-filled nature of a life lived in holy relationship, but still, we are called together.  The sin is in trying to define and specify the relationship, not in having relationships.  Second, this argument seems to deny the miracle of Pentecost, which is often refered to as the church’s birthday.  Is there a place for Acts in this theology?

There are other issues that could be raised, but instead I hope to echo the author’s notion that underlies the entirety of the book.  We are called into beautiful and holy relationship, and in that midst we will find our questions, if not answered, then at least holy and respected until such time and God reveals the truth.  Amen to that.

Education and Materialism

I recently read an article in the Washington Post Magazine about a couple who decide to use their wedding as a protest against the ridiculous materialistic complex that modern weddings have become.  Since reading it I have had thoughts about other good things that we have corrupted by pursuing the selfish materialism of it, and I stumbled into thoughts about education.

I remember a talk given during my first days of seminary where the main point of the discussion was to prepare us new students for a different focus than what we may have been used to in our undergraduate experiences.  We were not to be so concerned with grades so much as with engaging as deeply as we could with the material and subject matter.  As long as we were committed to trying to grasp and contend with the mountains of knowledge available to us as future clergy, we would be fine.  In essence, the message was, “Try hard and we’ll take care of you”.  On the one hand it was an acknoweldgement of how over burdened modern theological education had become with the wide variety of subject matter that now was considered central to a good seminary education, but on the other hand it was a wake up call to us who had been through (and for me as a teacher continued to particiapte in) the culture of educational acheivement that now passes for our society’s goal of raising our children to be functional and positive citizens.

My thoughts drifted to potential speeches I might make to my kids as they confront the “grades quest” that education now is for our youth.  I’ll try to impress upon them that the best students are not the ones who get A+s on everything and who develop the best resume that gets them into the tony private school.  I want them to know, from me the teacher, that my favorite students were the ones that came to class thristy to learn, willing to argue and protest something that didn’t sound right, who asked about a comment I made so that they could go and learn more about it.  One of my favorite students was a potential high school dropout, who two years after narrowly escaping and earning his diploma met me in a grociery store and wanted to tell me all about the music he was listening to now (note for readers: I was a music teacher and taught a music appreciation class that this student got his only A in during his senior year).  He seemed so desireful of learning more, and so disinterested in passing tests and doing homework, that he was a delight to teach, if not to assess.  Luckily my class was graded much more on participation than on the three projects on music history and analysis that went along with our class experiences in listening to and learning to appreciate just about any type of music we could find.

The current educational culture is one of achievement that is measured through tests and transcripts.  The focus has become totally selfish:  what grade can I earn so that I can get what I want next, that next step that leads to the ultimate goal of material security in the form of a well paying and hopefully socially esteemable employment.  What happened to learning how to learn?  What about honing one’s mind and knowledge so that one can do the most good for the greater society?  And to put it in terms of my line of work: what about maximizing the gift that God has given us in our ability to think and imagine?

I am sure after my lackluster high school experience that I was lucky to get into a public four year college to earn my undergraduate, and that today the pressure for even that chance is greater.  But as I look back over my experiences, I do not remember one test I took.  Well, maybe the calculus test where I earned a 115 score, but only because of the irony of somehow doing better that 100% on a mathematics test.  But what I do remember are the classes where I went home and wanted to learn more, like my educational psychology professor who made learning the basic educational theories of today so much fun and so applicable to everything we do.  I remember the ethics professor in seminary, who while being an incredibly hard exam creator, made delving into ethical dilemnas both challenging and yet safe as we encountered deep truths in ourselves that were not exactly pretty.  And on top of that, I am now within $1000 of paying off my undergraduate loans less than a decade after finishing.  I know I am a blessed one in that category, too.

My resume may not make it off the table for some high powered positions out there, but I know that when I enter the room for an interview, I feel confident that I can engage in conversation and show true concern and discernment for the position I am applying for.  Will our children, who had pursued the achievements over the education, ever feel confident in that trying time?  Will they even understand the dynamics of that time, or will they be asking for an assessment of how they did, so they can know their grade in the interview?  How sad if that is so.  Life isn’t about grades, and yet every year we seem to make it more so.

Recovery Day 11

Well, a week out and I am feeling a bit better.  I started working again with a half day yesterday, and so far I am still good.  I get tired pretty quickly though, usually after about two hours or so I need a break and after four or so I’m pretty much done.  My head still feels like there’s a headache threatening by the end of the day, but nothing develops as I retreat from working on projects and email.

I also started to exercise again, which makes me feel better physically.  No running or weightlifting yet, but some calesthenics and walks each day let me attempt to maintain my health.

Big events this week include going to see “The Dark Knight”, the Batman movie that speaks more to folks my age who came of age with the Batman series of comics by the same name.  It’s a more realistic view of the superhero.  I guess I would use the opera term ‘verismo’; it just feels more real.  I treated myself to the IMAX version, seeing as how I live within driving distance of three IMAX theaters.  It was a nice treat to myself…a sort of consolation prize for not getting to go hiking for a week.

It had been so long since I had seen a movie in the theater, though, that it took a few minutes for me to relax and enjoy the entertainment that it was.  So much of my last few years has been focused on avoiding the numbing entertainment mileu of our culture that when I finally do indulge in 2.5 hours of pure entertainment I wasn’t quite ready for the power of it.

I shouldn’t be so cynical or self-righteous, however.  I watch my share of TV, and I always have some sporting event that I can watch or listen to, so I have my own cultural drugs that help me through the day.  But maybe I have been avoiding the feature movie genre, and that is what caught me off guard.  Still, it was an awesome ride.

Home, Day 4

Recovery continues, and I am still pain free at this point.  I am getting tired easily, and yesterday was my first day without an afternoon nap, something I am wishing I could have today.  Nancy is running errands this afternoon and I am home with the kids, so although I am able to sit quietly on the back deck while the kids play, I’m not exactly running after them.  My garden as well senses the neglect, with the grass slowly overtaking my deer destroyed vegetables.

I’m going to be staying away from work for the majority of this week.  I’ll stop by on Thursday but I probably won’t work a full day.  I’ll need to be home Wednesday as Nancy works and has class, so hopefully by then I am ready to be a bit more active.  I will read some from home, as I have some assignments for my continuing ed class and some projects that could use some research as well.

I guess the bonus here is the chance to catch up on the Red Sox on the internet radio and keeping sermon notes as the ideas drift by in my head.  Its amazing how creative the mind gets when it doesn’t have the distractions of the day to day work.  I hope I can find a use for these ideas!

Home, day 2

Yesterday was my first day home and I spent most of it in bed.  Last night I decided not to take pain meds to see if that helped me get to sleep better, and sure enough, the ability to concentrate actually helps one fall asleep.  I did wake up around 2:30, though, and since I couldn’t get back to sleep I got up and watched a movie.  But I fell back asleep and woke up at 9, so overall a good night of resting.

Today I don’t seem to have any pain, just a slight dizzy sensation that comes and goes.  Breakfast went well so I hope the nausea is behind me as well.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

On the family front, my mother-in-law just left on the train home, so it’s just Nancy and I taking care of the kids.  I feel up to pitching in so I’ll help watch them and give Nancy the space she needs to keep things running while I keep getting better.

A hospital trip…

So, let me try to describe how I am now lying in bed at home recovering from viral meningitis. It takes some bad luck, some treating myself quite badly, and some good timing. I hope it can serve as a reminder to folks to take care of themselves and also to allay any fears that they could have caught this from me.

My illness apparently started now 12 days ago, on Friday, August 15th. That night I felt off, with my hands and feet feeling cold all the time. I checked my temp and it was in the low 99s so I figured I had a cold coming on and I’d see what developed in the morning. Woke up on Saturday and the fever was gone, no other symptoms, but that night the chills came back in my arms and feet. Temp was a little higher, so I took some tylenol and considered what to do in the morning. I only had to go to the later service (10AM), so I decided to play it by ear in the morning. When I got up the fever was back down and I had no other symptoms, so I assumed (yep…I know all about assumptions) that I was OK and I went to work.

Work itself was fine. I figure now that the adrenaline of meeting people and doing all the social transactions of a Sunday let me ignore any symptoms. At the time I figured whatever it was had gone away. That afternoon however, after returning home and deciding to take it easy, a good headache set in. I figured, “ah, here’s the cold starting in my sinuses”, and I called it a day and went to bed early.

Woke up Monday, and the sinus pain was gone, the fever was gone, but the only strange symptom was that if I moved my eyes to the extreme ends of my visual field (like way up, or way down, or way to the left, etc) I got an ache behind my eyes. Strange, I thought, but nothing terrifying. Maybe my eyes were tired from watching Michael Phelps reruns. So, I went to work.

Tuesday no pain anywhere (eyes were fine), no fever, so to work I went. Actually a 14 hour day, with morning, afternoon, and night meetings. Wednesday the same, and Thursday I worked from home while watching my kids like usual while Nancy worked in DC for the day. It was Thursday night that I started feeling the chills again, and that’s where I started to feel suspicious. Friday the same, with the fever rising at night.

Saturday morning was to be my last day in the office before I left on a week-long backpacking trip with my good friend Nathan. We were both extremely excited to be getting to hike together again since we hadn’t actually hiked together since our long distance summer in ’98 when I hiked 1000 miles of, and he thru-hiked (2180 miles), the Appalachian Trail. So in to work I went to wrap up as many details as I could before noon and then ran out to get last minute supplies, pack the car, balance the checkbook, check on the family’s plans for the week (my mother in law was coming in on Sunday afternoon only a couple hours after I left for Pennsylvania), and lastly I went over to church at 7PM to check on set up for the services since I was in charge of the early service.

By the time I got home, my temp was up to 101. OK, now what do I do… I decided that since the pattern was that the fever was down in the morning, I would handle the services and then check to see if I was still hot at noon and make a decision. At this point I was getting really confused as to what was wrong with me. I mean, shouldn’t I get a runny nose or an upset stomach or something? My only problem is a low grade fever and some occasional chills at night when I’m trying to go to sleep.

So, Sunday. Yep went to church. Yep, handled the services. Got home, fever was 102. And now, a good headache, like last Sunday, was coming on. OK, now I’ve got problems. That’s the highest it had ever been. Called Nathan and said let’s wait a day and I’ll get off my feet and see if a night of rest and tylenol finally gets rid of whatever this is. Good plan.

By 6PM, plan is in shambles. The headache, which before was a dull pressure behind my eyes, is now reaching a scale that I can only call the worst pain I have ever experienced. This blew away the migraines I have suffered in past, which although throbbing and painful, they did respond to tylenol and a dark room for a couple of hours. This headache was terrifying. On top of that, my new symptom was nausea, which lead me to loose my lunch, refuse dinner (you all know I don’t do that often), and by 7PM I couldn’t even keep water down.

That’s the alarm bell for me. But I’m not a hospital guy, so I decided that I would call (or more accurately, Nancy would call for me) the doctor first thing in the morning and I go in to see her. The night was terrible, with frequent trips to the bathroom to empty what little water I had tried to put in there while being curled up on the couch under blankets. I’m anything if not stubborn. I toughed it out, got a few hours sleep, and opened my eyes on Monday morning.

The pain was maybe a notch down from its peak Sunday night. But I couldn’t move anywhere fast. Couldn’t turn my head fast, couldn’t stand up fast, and I walked real slow. Worse, I still couldn’t eat or drink without loosing it all within an hour. Got to the doctor at 11:15 and it took her about 30 seconds to say,”Go to the hospital. Tell them your doctor thinks you have meningitis”. That was the first time I had even suspected it. I mean, meningitis is serious. But I didn’t have the power to question anything at that point. Nancy drove me over, I walked up to the triage desk, and within 30 minutes I had a private room, my own mask on to protect everyone else, and periodic doctor visits, blood tests, and trips out for different procedures.

I’ll highlight just one procedure, mainly because this is the real reason you do not want viral meningitis. Bacterial meningitis can kill you, but viral meningitis just hurts. No matter the difference, though, you get to have a spinal tap, otherwise known in the medical world as a lumbar puncture. In the ER they have you sit up, legs off the bed, and hold on to a chair or table while you arch your back. Meanwhile they clean your back, inject some local anesthetic, and then try to insert a thin needle between your vertebrae of your lower back and into your spinal column, where they can collect some precious cerebral-spinal fluid (CSF) with which they can do all the critical tests that can either confirm or deny that you have meningitis. It is the only way they can actually diagnosis this.

After trying this twice in the ER, with both times ending with me shrieking as they hit something with the needle that they shouldn’t, I was put in line to go to the radiologist, who uses x-ray pictures of my back to guide the needle. Success after 2 hours of waiting led to a few precious vials of my CSF going to the lab. A hour or so later the preliminary screen came back positive and I was admitted to the hospital until the follow-up tests could prove whether I had viral or bacterial meningitis.

Why is the difference so important? Well, in brief, because bacterial meningitis is dangerous for anyone who has been near me. And I had been near a whole lot of people. But, as even the ER doctor said to me, she really doubted that I had bacterial because without hospitalization and IV antibiotics, folks just don’t make it 8 days.

Ultimately it would take 48 hours in the hospital to both get me fully rehydrated and diagnosed with viral meningitis. I’ve been sent home with painkillers and anti-nausea meds so that I can eat and drink while I wait out the healing that has already begun. No word on when I’ll be back working, and the doctor said to take it real easy. I’ll reassess in a week.

Still putting together all the learning moments. Obvious already is that a 100 degree fever means you’re sick, whether or not you have other symptoms. Treat yourself accordingly. I’m sure there are many others, but right now I am just focused on napping, eating, and sleeping. For all you parishioners, family, and friends who have already heard and sent your messages of concern and prayers to me, I am fully thankful. My apologies for not responding any time soon, but it has taken me all day and several naps to put this blog post together for you to read. I’ll update it with anything new while I recover.

Mmm, I smell dinner. And the fact that it makes me hungry makes me happy. I’ll write more in the coming days and weeks. Peace and Blessings to you all. – Matthew

A first comment

Hello all,

It appears to me that if I want to claim internet ministry as a skill of mine, I will need to dedicate time to discovering how to communicate in new ways. I know this is behind the curve, but here is my foray into using blogs. I have tried a few times to write conventional, comment driven blogs, but I think this will be a little bit different. I’ll focus on putting information focused on ministry, including sermons, current work focus, and interests as they present themselves.

Soon I will be setting up a blog to keep track of my sermons that are recorded. Make sure to visit and listen to a few. I’d like to figure out how to allow folks who visit to rate the sermons, like with stars or some other item. We’ll see how far I experiment.

Peace to you all and I hope to gather your comments. – Matthew