Online Intimacy and Discipleship

I don't know if you've checked with my stuff lately,  but I added a "Church of the Saviour" section to my site.  One of their most lasting impressions they've left on me is in their idea of accountability and the integrity of Church membership.  Their members commit to a discipline of weekly meeting together to give accounting for where they are in their journey,  and to reflect upon a set of mutually agreed disciplines,  usually involving Scripture reflection and journaling.

There seems to be ingredients of this kind of thing here,  in weblogging. 

There isn't the personal prescence of course,  but there is a way to continue to offer "later reflections" and the kind of "asychronous" flow in a conversation that seems to me could enliven somebody's sense of having a living, breathing,  "expectant" type of feeling about going online and reading the reflections of others,  and offering up what's going through our own mind and heart as well.

I know that many will say that you just can't capture the same relational power with an online offering like this,  and I agree.  You can't capture the SAME,  but SOMETHING deep CAN take place.  It's different, to be sure,  but the characteristics of online interaction can also afford the conveneience and lessen some of the "pressures" of the face to face....and perhaps even enable us to derive more confidence in the face to face becuase we can discover some of the deeper thoughts others may have but were unsure of how to phrase it or express it,  or were afraid they might "bungle it" if they tried to articulate it,  so they don't try.  Online,  with time to carefully construct what they say,  they may just give a whirl,  and thus share something of deep value.  

© Copyright 2003 Dale Lature. Last update: 9/23/2003; 3:36:10 PM.