Curve

I am inquisitive about change....why some people are comfortable with it and others fear it.

In researching it further I ran across the Innovation Adoption Curve. Sounds pretty technical, and it is, but it is also very enlightening at many different levels.

It is also known by some other names...Multi-Step Flow Theory or Diffusion of Innovations Theory. I know what you are thinking...."you need to get out more often." And I probably do!

Here it is in a nutshell...There are five different categories of people

Innovators....these are brave people who are initiating the change.

Early Adopters...these are respectable people who influence others opinions...they try out new ideas but in a careful way.

Early Majority...these are thoughtful people who are careful but change more quickly than the average person.

Late Majority...these are skeptical people who will adopt new ideas only when the majority is already using them.

Laggards...these are traditional people who love to stick with the "old ways" and are critical about new ideas and will only accept them if the new idea has become mainstream or even traditional.

We need em' all.

I can't imagine a world full of Innovators. There would be a parade of new ideas constantly and nobody around to implement them.

I can't imagine a world full of Laggards, although I have been in a few places where they congregated.

The research tells us that progress is made when attention is given to convincing the Innovators and the Early Adopters.

It makes me wonder how all five groups respond to words like..."See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:19

Innovators might say, "A new thing, cool! What is it and when do we start?"

Early Adopters might say, "New things are ok, but let's be careful, you never know what's ahead?"

Early Majority might say, "New things....hmmmm...think I'll wait until the price comes down."

Late Majority might say, "New things...I have heard others talking about it...what does Consumer Report say about it?"

Laggards might say, "Change? If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Now what were we talking about?"

I've got experience with all five groups, and I have the bruises and scars to prove it.

Have you had any similar experiences?

Rhymes

Every once in a while, I return to a book that I have read earlier and re-read it. Usually once I read a book I seldom crack the pages again. Eugene Peterson writing in The Contemplative Pastor, has the ability to lure the one time reader back into the pages of his writings.

Tucked into one of the chapters Peterson quotes John Oman. He says there are "twin perils" that threaten our journey.

"Flurry and Worry"

I have seen both and experienced both. Oman goes on to say, "flurry dissipates energy and worry constipates it."

"Flurry" is the bane of our culture....We pride ourselves in being busy. C.S. Lewis said, "only lazy people work hard." Activity, busy-ness, and sighing alert people to the fact that we are busy. If we are busy people will think we are important.

"Worry" is a sedative our culture uses when we realize that there is very little we can do to alter circumstances we encounter.

After watching people for a long time, it seems that flurry and worry go hand in hand. Where one shows up the other is lurking in the wings.

Don't fret or worry....Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns....It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Philippians 4:6

I am learning to sit quietly and avoid the temptation to "flurry and worry." It's not easy, but it is necessary. It is not natural, but it is necessary.

God, help me to resist the temptation to get ahead of you and then wonder where you are.

Porch

Today I was in the inner city of Flint. I made a pilgrimage downtown to look at a rickety old porch that needs to be replaced. Sure enough when I arrived I looked over the decrepit porch and agreed that it needs replacing.

As I was standing there, Eric came up to me and said, "watcha doin?"

"Lookin at the porch....it needs to be replaced."

"Yep. It does."

What he said next floored me.

"Yeah, Orville used to sleep under there before he died a couple of years ago."

"Say what?"

Oblivious to the reality of what he said, he repeated, "Yeah, Orville used to sleep under there."

Sure enough there were some large cardboard pieces that resembled a makeshift bed. Lots of cobwebs, lots of bugs, and more cobwebs. I was looking at someones bedroom underneath a porch on Flint's East Side. Orville has gone home to heaven where the furnishings and surrounding are more comfortable. He is on heaven's front porch instead of underneath a porch in Flint.

It makes me wonder.

Recently I was reading a book entitled, The Testament of Gideon Mack and a comment brushed the cobwebs off of my psyche.

The author says, "I used to think that most people were instinctively charitable towards the less fortunate. Now I am not so sure. Perhaps charity is simply a way of putting distance between yourself and misfortune."

I think it is easy to fork over a few bucks to take care of the less fortunate. It is another thing to "get under the porch" and taste their suffering. It is easy to pray for those that are hungry just before we sit down to a banquet of choices.

Sometimes I think that we give little when He calls us to give everything.

Sometimes its uncomfortable to see suffering close up. Sometimes it is disconcerting to think that we can do very little to alter the course of life for many that are facing insurmountable odds.

Today I learned a very important lesson. Jesus said, "Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me." Matthew 25:45

God, give me another chance tomorrow...help me to keep my eyes open for the least, the lost, the last. Help me to respond in ways that are pleasing to you when you answer my prayer.

Casket

I opened tonights paper and just when you thought you had seen everything, along comes Bill Bramanti.

He is a 67 year old village administrator living in South Chicago Heights. He loves Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer. He loves it so much that he decided to have a casket constructed to look like a can of Blue Ribbon Beer.

Yep, you guessed it. He ordered the casket from Panozzo Brothers Funeral Home in Chicago Heights and had it delivered to his home.

What do you do while you wait to get inside of a casket shaped like a beer can? Where do you store a casket while you wait for your time to climb inside?

So Bill Bramanti decided to throw a party and fill the casket with ice and Pabst Blue Ribbon and invite his friends over for an evening of imbibing and stories.

Just when you thought you have heard everything.

Now, here's my question. Regardless of what you think of Bill Bramanti and a casket shaped like a beer can, the question is, "what prompted him to design and order a casket?"

It caused me to think about some people I know and what kind of casket they might design.

I have a friend who is a NASCAR fan....a casket shaped like #24?

I have a friend who loves Starbucks...a casket shaped like a coffee cup?

I have a friend who loves Walmart...a casket shaped like a shopping cart?

I have a friend who loves to preach....a casket shaped like a pulpit?

I have a friend who loves to eat at Old Country Buffet...whatever the shape it will have to be big!

And me? I love to read....maybe a casket shaped like a book. Don't get me wrong, I am not thinking about dying, but Bill Bramanti got my attention this afternoon.

It seems like "ole Bill" is spending more time thinking about dying than he is living. I want to spend more time thinking about living than dying.

Wouldn't you have loved to been the person who took Bill Bramanti's casket order? Is that strange or is it just me?

Wiki

This paragraph caught my attention in an email that I received yesterday from the Emergent Village Network. The EV seems to be going through a metamorphoses as they move from gatherings that are planned to ones that are more organic.

Here is the paragraph taken from their email....

The National EV Gathering might rise again next year as a reinvented event with new leadership and new structures -- let us know if you want to be one of the inventors. And in the mean time, do-it-yourself. Cohorts, put up wikis and find ways to be together. You don't need to have a conference with published speakers to shape and change Emergent, in fact, it is quite the opposite. Get out of your church conferences and blogs and into each other's fridges and back yards and national reserves and museums and inner-cities. Gather, mix, invent.

Now, I read their weekly emails with interest so that I can keep up with what they are thinking and doing, but this one really grabbed my interest.

Here's a few definitions to help you get the drift.

Cohorts...that's just groups of people having similar interests and experiences

Wikis...a collection of collaborative web pages in which anyone can make comments, additions or offer advice.

Emergent...it would take a collection of cohorts and many wikis to fully explain this....Suffice it to say, this is a movement of people who see the world differently and long to experience the Kingdom in ways beyond how many of us define church. It is not a generational or age issue as much as it is a mindset about what Jesus said and did.

But the thing that really grabbed me by the throat of consciousness was this phrase....Get out of your church conferences and blogs and into each other's fridges and back yards and national reserves and museums and inner-cities. Gather, mix, invent.

Allow me to reflect for a few moments....

Church conferences....Doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.

Blogs...I got one and it helps me to put things on the screen that I feel in my heart, even when I don't often have the courage to say them out loud.

Each others fridges....you gotta be in someone's home to get into their fridge. I long for relationships with people that are comfortable enough for me to get into their fridge and they wouldn't think that I am "Freddy the Freeloader."

Back yards.....well, hmmmm....that's the opposite of front yards.

National Reserves....I think this means "ivory towers" and "palaces of pomposity."

Museums...the way I understand it, these are places where you can go see relics from the past.

Inner Cities...I really feel comfortable there and feel rejuvenated when I am on the streets of inner cities.

Gather....mix....invent....Now if I have ever heard a great definition for church, there it is! What would happen if instead of saying, "I am going to church" we would say we are, "gathering....mixing....inventing?" Sounds like child's play....then the scripture that I will share tomorrow at the place of "gathering...mixing...inventing" says, "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

I am getting ready to gather with other pilgrims

I am going to mix with fellow travelers

I am going to invent new rhythms to keep my heart in tune with His.

Sure beats "just going to church."

What do you think?

Water

"The water for which we thirst is God's grace, but God gives us the job of hauling it in our own buckets." Evelyn Underhill

I need lots of buckets.

Dr. David Larson, M.D. wrote, "When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take that step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe the one of two things will happen...There will be something solid for us to stand on, or we will be taught to fly."

That assurance is developed through carrying buckets of God's grace. Our thirst for God's grace is quenched when we believe that we can "walk naked into the land of uncertainty" and know that He will be with us.

One of my favorite books is a small book that I purchased nearly twenty years ago. The title of the book is A Guide to Retreat for All God's Shepherds, by Rueben Job. I love the book for more reasons that I am able to describe.

In one of the best sections these words appear...

O God, throw me a crumb of quiet to soothe my restless wandering heart.

I am tired of seeking you.

I know that I'll find you on the day I allow myself to be found by you.

But I am not that tame yet...

God's grace is all around me...whenever I run, His grace is there. When I am distracted, His grace renews my focus. When I have questions, grace is His answer. When I am confused, grace calms my doubts. When I am confident, grace reminds me that "apart from him I can do nothing."

I am thirsty for grace...and I need a bigger bucket. How about you?

Point

I am not a Marshall McLuhan scholar by any stretch of the imagination. I know enought about him to realize that even though his life was filled with writing scholarly tomes and giving lectures, he approached life in a rather simple way.

My favorite McLuhan quote is "A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding."

He was educated at Cambridge, heavily influenced by another of my favorites...G.K. Chesterton, and a convert to Roman Catholicism. Writing heavily in the area of media and its influence he is credited with coining the phrase, "the medium is the message."

Perhaps that is why his quote about "point of view" is so intriguing to me.

I have seen people hold tenaciously to their "point of view" while sacrificing an inquiry into "insight and understanding." It makes me wonder if this might be the source of many conflicts in the places we work, in our relationships and in the places we worship.

How often I have seen people close their mind to any insight or new understanding because it conflicted with their "point of view."

What if our "point of view" is just that....a "point?" What if our view ought to be more comprehensive than some "point" on a line? What if our "point of view" ought to have an elasticity to it that allows new "insights and understandings?"

The apostle Paul understood this before Marsall McLuhan ever thought about it. He wrote, "Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn't take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn't just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!" I Corinthians 9:19 The Message.

What's your "point of view?"

I guess it depends on where you're standing.

What do you think?