Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada

And so we gathered to watch ListenUpTV on Sunday.  Well, actually, I was getting ready for Sunday Service,  and talking a few minutes to watch on line... my parents were watching at home, a couple of friends were PVRing... and Emerging Spirit, I imagine, was looking forward to getting some of our point of view included in public discussion. 

Not quite the conflagration we'd come to expect!

  (this is an obscure Beyond the Fringe allusion meant to inspire research)

Alas,  most of what I had to offer ListenUpTV ended up on the editing room floor.  Yes, I shed an ego-driven tear, as I put away (again) my plans for a Crystal Cathedral in Don Mills and dashed my hopes for Buddy Cop flick with Charlize Theron... no stardom for me.  However, my greater disappointment was the nature of the actual episode of ListenUpTV.  The show was well produced, the people were very kind and Ms. Dueck a gracious, knowledgeable host  (I mean these things sincerely, I'm not angling for a sequel appearance) - but the show was not about what I thought it would be about.  I suspect that about a week after they did my interview the show changed direction slightly (probably when they found the once Athiest, now Pastor fellow from Boston).  As I watched the show it became clear to me that this was a show about the existence of God.  In her wrap up, Lorna (Ms. Dueck, I call her Lorna... it's TV biz thing) made her arguments for the existence of God, not the value of public discourse or free speech or what 20-40 years old are looking for....

But

I didn't want to debate the existence of God.

I wanted to talk about the spiritual hunger that's out in our communities and how we can help to satisfy it.  I disagree with Justin Trottier (also on the show) when he noted that people in their 20's aren't interested in whether or not Atheism or any kind of Theism gives them hope, they just want to know that what they believe is true.... I wanted to talk about that.  I find that most people, 20 or 90, want hope and in fact, are not so concerned about ultimate "truth" as they are about relationship, belonging and having a way to express themselves authentically in the community; I think people want to make a difference in the world and are quite willing (even) eager to embrace mystery, provided that mystery is authentic and sincere.   That's what I wanted to talk about.

That could have been a great show.

I wanted to talk about the spiritual hunger and interest that exists today, but how many people lack the vocabulary that we, in the church, take for granted.  They haven't been raised in the church or they have had experience that has lead them to distrust talk of "Redemption", "Salvation", "Sin" and a lexicon of other terms that are often used to bludgeon or condemn....  We need a new way of talking about, even doing, church, if we want to converse with these folk.  The bus ads may be a beginning of talking to new people in a new way - that's why some of us are so eager to enter into the conversation.  The fact that we are being invited into "Conversation" is a big moment for us, too - as many folks can't even imagine that the church would be willing to "Converse", suspecting that churches are best at dictating. 

That would have been an interesting show.

That's what I had hoped for on ListenUpTV... but that was my agenda and not theirs.  I suppose my only real complaint about the show would be the 45 lbs that the camera put on me...  no, really, I know you've heard that the camera puts on 10 lbs - but at ListenUpTV, it's really 45!