“How can the web be a calling?” I asked my dear friend Daisy. It feels so utterly true to me and yet, unlike music, the web has only existed for the briefest flicker of human existence. And she said, “It’s about communicating with grace.”

And now I read the words of Parker Palmer: “Today I understand vocation … as a gift to be received. Discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just beyond my reach but accepting the treasure of true self I already possess…. It comes from a voice “in here calling me to be the person I was born to be.”

To treasure this year, to use my time wisely, I resolve to delve deeper into the mysteries of communication, for myself and for my faith. While the particulars of this resolution are still emerging, some of the pieces are:

• To meet regularly with my dear friend Denise, who will hold me accountable for this resolution.
• To not just read, but act based on Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey’s book Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization.
• To develop a WordPress theme to help congregations struggling with their website.
• And of course, to write for Faith and Web.

Wishing you all a very happy new year.

I could see him flinch. (“Sorry,” I thought.) Of course, I’d caught him unawares. But I wasn’t looking for a carefully crafted answer — just a bit of help.

His first response was to speak of the power imbalance in blogging. He’s been burned by this. For me this issue speaks right to my Collection Development Librarian heart. In my constructs, he’s talking about the paucity of editorial control, where anyone can be a self-proclaimed expert. The way I have it figured, the savvy web user has worked out new ways to determine authority and worthiness. It’s fascinating that he instantly thought of blogging, which for me is just one small part of the Web, albeit astonishingly rich.

Then he gave me a more academic answer, mentioning a book we’d had a sermon on a few years ago: Small Pieces Loosely Joined by David Weinberger. Although I’d read the book back then, I’d forgotten about it. I don’t recall Weinberger talking about God, but the way he holds up the Web is indeed part of my search.

And then Rev. Luminous really hit it for me. He mentioned the theory that (as I understand it) God is what happens between you and me. While Martin Buber’s I and Thou is somewhere between difficult and impossible for me to grasp, nonetheless this helps. The Thou of the Web. It’s stupendous.

And it was such a delightful moment in time. The Rev. Luminous: comfortable with God, but reacting to the word Web. Me: comfortable with the Web, but reacting to the word God.

I don’t disagree with her points. However, I think she’s missing something that’s terribly important to those of us deeply involved in technology.

Technology and spirituality aren’t antithetical. In fact, it’s quite possible to have certain kinds of spiritual experiences when working with computers and the like. Granted, it’s not easy, nor is it commonplace. But I recall times when deep connections have been made that wouldn’t have been possible in a world without technology. And I think in particular of the hours where self is completely lost in coding and designing web pages.

Are these not spiritual experiences? Might not such focus be a mind state similar to that of artists and musicians absorbed in their work? For me it’s not the same as meditation or prayer, but I define spirituality more broadly than those two practices.

And I expect I define technology differently as well. For the author, it’s simply a tool of convenience. For me it’s that, but much more as well. For me it’s not about the machines per se; it’s about how I am in relation to them and the reality they create, be it telephone lines, photo software, etc., etc. Technology is the backbone of the web, and for me the web is a calling.

“To worship is to work with dedication and with skill;
it is to pause from work and listen to a strain of music.”
– Jacob Trapp

These words leapt off the page during a service this morning. It was such a lovely reminder — a chance to back up and see what all the hustle and bustle of creating a website is really all about.

They are the third verse of a beautiful poem, which begins:

“To worship is to stand in awe under a heaven of stars,
Before a flower, a leaf in sunlight, or a grain of sand.”

Read more….

Yesterday our service began with this beautiful quote. It was one of those Sundays when I’d woken up feeling the tug of things to do, and hadn’t much wanted to go to church. But thank goodness my conscience prevailed. I recalled how almost without fail, church reorients me and keeps things in perspective. It’s a tune-up for my spirit. And I’m so glad I went.

Listening to these glorious words, I realized the church’s website is my garden patch – a place to putter around in, to share with others, and to enjoy its fruits. By nature, it’s evanescent, with a half-life that’s much briefer than your average publication. So does a well-tended website leave the world a better place? One can but hope.