Charlie Dean’s Blog

From a Newsweek article called “In iPad We Trust.”  (click here for the full article)

What’s wrong, or at least interesting, is why some of us expected so much more from a new gadget. I suspect this is because for some people, myself included, technology has become a kind of religion. We may not believe in God anymore, but we still need mystery and wonder. We need the magic act. Five centuries ago Spanish missionaries put shiny mirrors in churches to dazzle the Incas and draw them to Christianity. We, too, want to be dazzled by shiny new objects. Our iPhones not only play music and make phone calls, but they also have become totemic objects, imbued with techno-voodoo. Maybe that sounds nuts, but before the iPad was announced, people were calling it the “Jesus tablet.”

That line about the shiny mirrors?  That makes me think about the church & technology.  And if a church markets itself by it’s “tech-savvyness,” how is that different than shiny mirrors?

On a personal level… I want one.  I’ve been thinking hard about a Kindle for some time, but that’s out the window now!

Maybe it’s the clouds…

Maybe it’s the conversation I had last night with my friends…

Maybe it’s the extra-early start to my Monday morning…

Maybe it’s the knowledge that LENT is coming, and I’m getting prepared…

Whatever it is, I’ve been plagued recently by my ideals about the kind of pastor/husband/father/friend I should be and the reality of who I actually am.  Most of the time, it feels like there is such a disconnect and I feeling like a failure at all of them.  I’m thankful that LENT is coming.  I could use some introspection & discipline.

I  can’t make this stuff up:

This morning, I was driving to an early breakfast, and I had NPR’s Morning Edition on the radio.  I was thinking about the Haiti situation and I had this thought:

I wonder when some Christian “celebrity/pastor” type will make some asinine statement about this, and appearing condescending & judgmental, as if they know the mind of God.

My very next thought, in an attempt to stop being such a critical jerk most of the time was this:

Charlie, quit being so cynical about church leaders.

SIGH.  Pat Robertson Strikes Again!

I know that Jesus calls us to love everyone…but in this moment I’m filled with anger – I hope it’s righteous.  I feel like Jesus’ name is getting drug through the mud by someone who professes to love him.