Hebrew Bible and Christian Scriptures

OK, so it’s almost 8 a.m. and I’m at home nursing a feverish child, which at least affords me a little free time to work on some final thoughts about the seminar in between bouts of temperature-taking and measuring out Tylenol. Ruta Maya coffee helps. I’m really distracted by this cartoon my son is watching–cartoon rabbits cavorting about with a rendition of “A Night in Tunisia” for a soundtrack (Hey Jazz and Word, which is your favorite version? I’m partial to Dizzy’s myself).

As our seminar draws to a conclusion, I’d first like to say it’s been a pleasure getting to know everyone and reading their work. A special thanks to Gardner for spearheading this experiment (and kudos to Sandy for requiring me to take the seminar in the first place. Also, thanks for the loaner text book). Wonderful conversation and vicious blogging by all have given me fodder and inspiration for my own writing, which has been a real pleasure to do. Paige is forcing me to continue this post-seminar: I’ll do my best! Makes me realize all that I loved about my days of English-majoring and writing for newspapers. Finally, all of this has given me an opportunity to do something I should have been doing all along: blogging. This has been really fun.

What have I learned? Honestly, at the beginning of the seminar, I didn’t know what to expect–I think I made that clear in my very awkward introduction to everyone. But man, what a learning experience this turned out to be, and a very inspiring experience at that!

OK, so here’s a few things I think I learned over the past semester:

1. Collaboration = Augmentation. The assigned readings are much less inspiring and cogent without the full participation of the class in the blogosphere (no worries there). Some of my more significant learning experiences came after reading other blog posts–and, likewise, hearing you all reflect out loud in class. Many of those observations, written and otherwise, helped me hash out the real significance of the readings or ponder things I hadn’t thought of. It just goes to show that we’re much smarter together than apart. This is a hackneyed observation, perhaps, in the Web 2.0 world, but I think it’s really true. And NOT to say there isn’t a place for one’s own learning space … Which is what our own blogs are anyway.
2. The importance of paying attention to the sensual experience of media. McLuhan was the most important author for me in this class. Seemed his ideas just kept cropping up all over the place, including in McLoud’s essay. Ashley’s post “McLuhan said this” is an important reminder about how we shouldn’t take certain academic pronouncements too seriously, but something in his message keeps resonating with me. In terms of education, I think the idea of “The Medium is the Message” is an invitation to explore how various use of technology in education either reinforces or inhibits the learning experience based on the senses with which we engage it.
3. Mastery of technology is less about a prerequisite “competence” than about a sense of playfullness and wonder. After reading the essays on gaming–and in conversations where the subject seemed to always come back to children–I’ve come to the conclusion that, at least on some level, there’s an important lesson to be learned from how children engage technology (and more broadly, the world). I think the same is required of us to learn new things, especially technology. At the beginning of every technological adventure, we must care less about mastery than about forging ahead Crusoe-style and being OK with being a stranger in a stranger cyberland. I’m not advocating irresponsibility, either; just saying that we should always remember to engage technology with a sense of play (not fear) and experimentation before we attempt to master and control it, if that’s even possible. We adults spend a lot of time pointing out how our youth are so adept at technology, but who’s more concerned about being the “experts,” us or them?
4. Our stories, and our need to tell them, matter more than technology… which is why we keep inventing new ways of telling them. Strange, isn’t it? After this seminar, my take is that modern developments in computing (and our reaction to those developments) are only really important in terms of what they say about us as humans, and how they augment human nature, not what they represent in themselves. Ashley was ahead of the game in this observation when she wrote about Social Media as an Issue of Trust.
5. Living and learning is an artistic endeavor, and technology–when used effectively–can help us more fully express that. I’m at a loss, so I’ll just stop there .

Now for the cheesy part! I leave this seminar being really excited about the future–what it holds for us as educators and parents, the possibilities for our children to live richer lives as a result of New Media (again, thank you everyone, especially Gardner, for such a wonderful experience). As I think about all this, my minds goes back to Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” the part that says,

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.

And then I think about my own children, and realize that this is what the New Media will make possible. Now, time for another dose of that Tylenol …

Earlier this month I wondered about the role of the biblical theologian as a public intellectual.  I crowd sourced the topic through Facebook. First I want to present a little discussion on the definitions. Public intellectual is one who interprets her/his research for public consumption. One wonders how the scholar and the public intellectual fit together. I wondered and continue to wonder how the identity of the scholar and the public intellectual overlap.

Rolf A. Jacobson “I don’t think public intellectuals wear cowboy hats.”

Beth Tanner has already taught a course on the topic. She said “I actually have a whole class on it.  I teach the senior seminar in Public Theology.  Let me know your email and I can send you the syllabus and tell you about some of the things we have done.”

Kent Richards retired professor and executive director of the Society of Biblical Literature had some interesting observations about biblical scholars as public intellectuals.

“Very interesting comments above, thanks.  First, reflecting on the frequently stated concerns about “public theologians.”  Many us bemoan the fact that we have few colleagues who fit that role.  Figures like R. Niebuhr are not common (but they weren’t then!).  Others say that there have been few biblical “types” who have ever filled that role.  I wonder if we need to think about the role of the Internet.  Are we doing a better job there?  Maybe not.

Second, developing “new” habits that I was told about 40 years ago and which I have continued might be a starting point.  Read and reflect on regularly (every week) political opinions in a wide range of perspectives, not just the ones we like.  Place those thoughts in the context of our religious and theological readings.  This practice can get us into an internal dialogue that might lead to public expressions, not to mention create a more knowledgeable base.”

His idea of “new habits” is well worth pursuing.

Judye Pistiole a Presbyterian pastor wrote “i write a column every other week for the local newspaper. got the publisher to agree I could write about anything I wanted and say whatever I wanted. so sometimes i just write funny stuff and sometimes i engage the topics that i think need to be thought about. last week talked about our moral obligation as Christians to care for the sick. the week before it was humor about being a foodie.”

Lisa Knaggs a Presbyterian activist based in Austin Texas remarks. “glad you’re thinking about this- maybe if more pastors were allowed to get out of church and into the community (I think of Chuck Meyer, former chaplain at St. David’s hospital in Austin) then their lives are more engaged in public experience and therefore naturally, dialog…”

Jim Hardenbrook Church of the Brethren pastor and former moderator of the Church of the Brethren “I believe that is what Eugene Peterson calls for in most of his books about the pastorate.  How do you define “public intellectual”?”

Larry Grim commented “One hopes, for at least 20 minutes every Sunday morning! But seriously, I don’t think that ideal (unfortunately) as widespread as it once was — what about Bonhoeffer?”

Dizzy Gillespie was born on October 21. Gerhard von Rad was born on October 21. I was born on October 21. This confluence of birthdays may demonstrate that the intersection of culture and biblical studies.