The last month has been a whirlwind for me. And at the risk of wanton self-promotion, I'm posting links here to three talks or interviews I've given in the last few weeks -- at Ideacity in Toronto, at the Mormon Stories conference in Salt Lake City, and over the interwaves (is that a word?) courtesy of Darkwood Brew's nifty online TV show.
Ideacity: I admit that the coolest thing about Ideacity for me was the swag. Yes, I am that shallow. They gave us all tablet computers to take home, and I regifted it to my husband for Father's Day to augment his usual shirt-and-book combo. I was, for five minutes, the very best wife on the whole planet. Thank you, Ideacity!
But the TED talks at Ideacity are the real reason to attend, bags o' swag notwithstanding. My talk was just an overview of Flunking Sainthood and my other current humor project, the Twible, so if you've read either of those you probably don't want to watch the talk. But if you haven't, it's a fair introduction, and not too long at 17 minutes. I'm not sure why they called me a self-described Sunday School dropout, since I don't recall ever describing myself that way, but I'm grateful to have been a part of the event.
The Ideacity talk I really want to hear is one by the author of Unnatural Selection, about how gender selection is changing Chinese society. She and I shared a cab from the airport and I enjoyed hearing about it and was very sorry to miss her talk. I had to leave the conference early.
Mormon Stories: The Mormon Stories conference in Salt Lake City on June 16 was a great event. Thanks to everyone who came, and also to all the people who've messaged me this week because they've just watched the talk online. My worlds came together at Mormon Stories and I got to preach in a Presbyterian pulpit for the first time since Div School. Whoo hoo! I spoke about the challenges of balancing justice with mercy and humility in Micah 6:8, my favorite scripture. I'm sorry my talk went too long; I was given 25 minutes but I'm guessing it was more like 35. This is why I don't have a regular pulpit, people.
It's a pretty serious and emotional talk, at least for me, but if you're looking for the one funny segment (the part about cognitive dissonance), it's about 2/3 through, I think.
Darkwood Brew: After the Wild Goose Festival Eric Elnes contacted me to ask if I'd be a guest on his fascinating online show Darkwood Brew this past weekend. Wow! I've never seen it before, but now I am quite a fan. Basically, Emergent and progressive Christians from all over the world tune in each Sunday evening for a time of community, jazz music, discussion, and lectio divina. Our lectio passage was Luke 7:36-50. One thing that surprised me was that participants actually voted online in real time about which phrase from the passage struck them most. It's an interactive approach to lectio, and I enjoyed it very much.
This weekend's guest is Yale Div School scholar Emilie Townes, who is, I'm proud to say, one of my authors at Westminster John Knox. Small world.
Derek | Jul 6, 2012 | 3:49pm
You are an incredibly fun and insightful guest, Jana! I enjoyed your spot on DWB! Peace!
Me From Cali | Jul 7, 2012 | 11:20pm
RE: Mormon Stories 2012 Salt Lake City Conference Part 1 of 5 (YouTube) - Jana Riess & Peter Breinholt
I enjoyed listening to your talk and certainly relate to a lot of what you stated.
With regard to prayer: I no longer attend church (LDS). For one reason, I seldom felt any spiritual communion when prayers were being said. I am not going to blow my own golden trumpet and state that I am the quintessence of those who pray, but when I used to pray publicly in an LDS meeting, my attitude, mind-set, demeanor, whatever, was somewhat different than most of the run-of-the-mill prayers given in LDS church meetings. They weren’t said in an ostentatious or ‘holy roller’ style, or anything like that, just with more thought about the ‘reality’ of the prayer itself (perhaps difficult to explain in words).
Anyway, on this note (but hopefully not on my golden trumpet) I’ve made an interesting observation over the last little while. This is, when certain ‘active’ LDS members of my wife’s family visit our home and there is an occasion to pray (blessing over the food, for example) and I offer the prayer in the way that I do, there seems to be this reaction of perplexity or disconnect felt by these family members—they don’t seem to relate to it. However, when I am in their home and an adult member offers the prayer, it’s the standard rhetoric hurry-up-get-it-done-inthenameofJesusChristamen. To me, it’s almost comical and hardly a ‘prayer’. Nevertheless, it’s their way of praying, and so who am I to judge. At the same time, though, it is interesting to observe.
All the best to you.
Jana Riess | Jul 17, 2012 | 12:59pm
Thank you for the feedback about the talks. And “Me from Cali,” best wishes as you find your own path to God in prayer. As you point out, different people have different ways of praying, and what appears to be vain repetition to one person can be deeply spiritual to another (though maybe not right before mealtime!).