A classmate from IC2643 (The Gospel and Global Media) posted this TED Talk on her blog and I had to share it here along with a few thoughts that came to me as I watched it...
So Amanda is speaking of "profound encounters" she experienced with people as a street performer and how she doesn't want to loose it. She talks about the non-verbal exchange that took place between their eyes that went something like, "Thank you, I see you." "Nobody ever sees me thank you." This got me wondering about the people that fill the pews at church. How many of them feel the same way. "Nobody ever sees me." Do we see them? Do we see everyone in our pews or do we only see the ones that are "worth" seeing, help pay the bills, are attracive and dressed well, make the most noise, etc.? Who are the people in our pews and do we see them?
She talks about the question that fear has us asking, "Is this fair?" What is fair anyway?
The most profound piece of this video comes in the idea of asking. Asking people to help you. She said, "Asking makes us vulnerable" Brene Brown would say, "Yes! being vulerable is OK! Being vulnerable is where creativity and imagination start!" (Brown actually highlights this talk in her blog post the other day!) Palmer says, "I didn't make them... I asked them! Through the very act of asking people I connected with them and when you connect with people they want to help you."
She leaves the video with this: The music world is asking "How do we make people pay for music?" and I think we should be asking ,"How do we let people pay for music?"
Immediately I went to our dying church and thought what if we stopped asking "How do we make people come to church on Sunday mornings?" and instead started asking, "How do we let people come to church on Sunday, Saturday, Wednesday, Friday?" So, yes how do we stop making people feel like they have to come to church, but create a space, a place, a time that actually sees people, allows for vulnerability to take place, asks for help and suddenly maybe people we be able to say, "Thank you, nobody ever sees me."
Lots of good questions in your post. I didn't look at the vid. We learn to ask more as we get older, if we are smart. It isn't easy. But it is necessary. I learned much about that in the past 14 months, since I had three surgeries, plus two deaths of people close to us. Who saw me, when I was hurting? Who knew if I wasn't wailing, expecting people know that I wasn't well or I was grieving? How do we let people know without just being in a complaining role? The prayer list does help in some ways. But what about my part, when it is my turn? Do I reach out to others at TLC, besides my close friends, when they are hurting? Don't ask that question. What about serving more people by having church services at more user friendly times of the week? TLC had two services/week in the early and mid 70's because of the service at Camp V on Saturday evening. And there were still 200 people in the pews on Sunday. Subsequent pastors refused to have two services/week. Yes, more people used to attend church, like in the '50's and '60's. But when I was growing up, I never heard of a church that had fewer than 2 services on a Sunday, some had three or four, but only one pastor. [I think less midweek activity was expected of pastors in those days.] My mom's church always had a Thursday noon service, year round, even lately. We can't "ask" people to be in church on Sunday and then expect them to be working at the gas station or at the Brunch Restaurant after church when we want something for ourselves. Yes, ask and "let" and serve and care, and notice people.
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