Can someone please explain to me why this commercial is so funny?
Everytime this commercial makes its way onto the television I find myself beginning with a light chuckle that ultimately ends in out loud laughter and I don’t know why… I mean, look at it… it’s just funny! Does anyone know why? What’s great about this is that I know it’s not just me that laughs uncontrollably. I’ve had conversations with friends who also react strongly to this commercial… any thoughts?
Whoever is their marketing director and did the research for this commercial is a genius!
The internet in 1969. It’s amazing what we were dreaming of in 1969 that has not only come to be but has become such an integral part of our lives. In fact, it has revolutionized our lives… so, it got me wondering. What are we dreaming of today that in 20 years will completely transform how we live, interact, work, maintain and develop relationships?
Or perhaps another question: What are you dreaming of today that will someday make a lasting impact in your circles of influence?
Remember when everything was within your reach, when all of your dreams seemed so tangible, so possible and nothing could stop you from achieving that dream… except yourself?
I remember those times. I remember feeling the tension between dreaming and wondering “where have all the dreamers gone?”; the tension between being an idealist and yet wondering “why all the idealists had gone the way of the buffalo?” I used to believe that as the lyrics to the song go: “We’ve shot all our dreamers and there’s no one left to lead us.” I think I have a better grasp on this tension now. I think I have a better understanding why so many dreams go unfulfilled and idealisms pass away… I think we shoot ourselves.
After making my way out to San Francisco full of dreams and ideas, hopes and possibilities, I quickly became overwhelmed with the fear of the unknown which was compounded with unrealistic expectations from both within and outside of myself. It was in this fear that I retreated back to the “safety zone” of safe ideas, traditional methods, the tried & true strategies for planting a church. Although a good place to start, retreating back into this “safety zone” choked the life out of the dreams and ideals that God had been saturating in my heart and mind. Safety led way to the death of experimentation.
How many of our best dreams and the greatest hopes in our idealism have died in the “safety zone”? How often have we chosen the comfortable and the traditional over the hope of possibility and the spark of innovation? This was certainly the road I was walking down… and leading down. Perhaps now after pinging so far into an idealist world and pinging backwards into the safety zone I can begin to find a new ground. A ground that isn’t reckless with idealism or locked into the need for safety. I’m in search of a new tension, searching for a creative idealism that carves a new way of being the church in the city of San Francisco. It’s here that the hopes and dreams are beginning to find new life once again and possibility springs eternal…
Thirty-six skaters made their way down the hills of San Francisco with neon signs attached to them to create a life-sized game of tetris. This is one of the reasons I love this city… the creative spark and imagination that flow from the people who live here and call this place home is at a level unseen in most places around the country–around the world. The city of San Francisco is a place of experimentation and hope, the land of the start-up (there are more start-up companies here than almost anywhere else) and the land of the non-profit (there are more non-profit organizations here than anywhere else in the country). The people of San Francisco believe they can do anything…
What better place to start a church than here! Imagine what could happen if the creative spark that drives this city is turned towards the realization that they are a part of a Sacred Ecosystem (Kingdom of God), and that together it really is possible to change the world…
This the endeavor that we are a part of… revealing the Sacred, opening the eyes of the people around us to the realities that God is in our midst working and shaping everything around us. This is what brings me hope, this is what excites me about this new church forming in all around us… I believe change is in the air.
Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Love, Pray talks about the divine spark of creativity. There is much to chew on and a great deal to wrestle with in terms of how we have shifted the self and human expression to the center of creativity, accepting all the credit, instead of seeing the Divine as the center utilizing humanity as the vessel through whom He wishes to express Himself to us. There are interesting implications and a great tension between the two.
So then, who ultimately is creator? Is it a Divine expression working through humanity? Is it humanity expressing itself back to the Divine? Is there a tandem at play, a Divine dance, between humanity and the Divine?
