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Transcript

Re-Weaving Our Frayed Ties

Bowling Alone, bonding and bridging, and our beleaguered democracy: a recording from a Blue Room/Imago Scriptura live video

We did it! Thank you to Ed Goode of Imago Scriptura for trying something new with me, and for the wonderful chat. Watch the recording right here, or check out the episode of What Now with Trevor Noah which inspired our conversation. I appreciated Ed’s connecting Putnam’s work with Peter Block, and am now thinking about the triad concept as a model for ministry. What would it look like to say we don’t go with something—an idea, a new program—without three people at the helm?

There are some truly alarming things taking place these last few days. In some ways, this conversation may seem frivolous in light of these emergencies. But I am more and more convinced that we’re in the current morass partly because we’ve been so focused on the immediate and short-term that we’ve neglected deep, decades-long work. Wendell Berry says to plant sequoias. Hey, we’ve tried everything else, haven’t we?

There’s so much more to this topic, including how online interactions both help and hinder the work of community. Including right here! Let us know your takeaways and continued questions. The work of rebuilding communities and combating social isolation will require both patience and urgency. Where do you feel moved to start?

And lastly, check out Ed’s book, Ordinary BenchMarks. Steady on.

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