Virtual Methodist

I posted this meme on facebook earlier, ironically prompting some further badenage on the subject of who is right or wrong in this whole debacle. I have, you will not be surprised to hear, strong opinions on this subject, but the closer we get to what seems a climax in this constitutional craziness, the less I feel that my or anyone else's contributions on social media are actually helping...  There has to be another way, hence this past Friday's Thought for the Day... reproduced below in a slightly amended form, or here as an audio clip for those who would prefer to hear my dulcet tones.  A week is a long time in politics... Never has Harold Wilson’s now clichéd comment been truer than the past week. Indeed I wrote this on Thursday afternoon for approval by the BBC Radio Ulster producer’s approval, wary of what may happen between then and the broadcast the next morning... The only thing that has become clearer in this past week is how many of my friends and associates...

I am sure you've seen it by now... the multiple photos of Pope Francis looking seriously non-plussed standing beside a grinning President Trump... perhaps juxtaposed with photos of Francis laughing with Barack Obama... I immediately laughed... but I didn't see it as particularly insightful... Most were posted by friends within my virtual bubble who (like me) would not be the current President's greatest fans, and as such the photo told more about them (and me) than it really says about any of the people in the picture... And in most cases where those photos appeared on social media you didn't have to scroll too far down the comments before someone (not necessarily a Trump fan) countered the initial photo with another one, either with the two men smiling, as above, or another one of the Pope looking grim faced beside the former President... Photos these days are fairly crude weapons in world of political and social warfare, be it the current Pope/Trump ones or the p...

I was sent this book specifically to review after I responded to a post/tweet on facebook/twitter (can’t remember which) at a time when I was seriously thinking about the role of social media in society in general and my life and ministry specifically. It is a relatively short book written in bite-sized blog-like chunks, or, given the subject matter, perhaps that should be byte-sized chunks. Despite its brevity, it packs in a lot of scholarship and reflection, indeed at times it reads like a literary link-dump, citing other larger works that have a more specific focus, but it builds a good case for how all communications technology, including contemporary social media, are not simply neutral tools, but serve to shape individuals’ neurological function and human society in general for good or ill. It is not a luddite rejection of technological development and its often unintended social effects, but rather, is a measured appraisal by someone who uses these tools, but is seeking to ...

My post of yesterday seems to have struck a chord or two given the amount of traffic it has generated on the site... That's encouraging, as I was very reluctant to post it, because, contrary to popular perception I'm not grumpy about everything all the time. I'm forever telling my congregation that we are good news people not bad news, so in contrast to my 12 mid-winter gripes of yesterday, here are 12 signs of hope that keep me going. They are not direct responses to the issues I raised, but are examples of the things that remind me that, in the midst of a fallen world, God in his grace is at work redeeming and renewing that which he once looked on and called good... So here goes: The commitment of Christian people across the UK to help the poorest in society through food pantries and other initiatives, including the Trussell Trust Foodbanks which have grown into a 300 strong network over the past 13 years, with 100 being established in the last year... with, hopefu...