Saturday, December 4, 2021
Friday, December 3, 2021
Tuesday, November 30, 2021
You Are Being Pursued By A Culture That's Aimed Squarely At Your Soul. Where Can We As Christian Men Properly Wrestle With / Find Solace From This Reality?
As westerners, we demure with ease so long as our comfortableness is maintained. For we are materially wealthy (& subsequently hyper comfortable) to the nth degree with expected conveniences galore. Yet comfort comes, so very often, with strings attached. Strings that pay homage to / speak to our idolatrous nature.
Screens are all around us, and as such, they're culture's primary mode of distribution (communicative influence). The precedent set for this came about via the printing press' revolution of our cultural paradigm. These screens are mounted above our fireplaces at home, held fast within our pockets, strapped to our wrists, stationed on our desks at work, glowing at us from within the car, and visual aiding us at church. Our expectation today is for screens to be energized (always on) and novel with constant, unlimited content which is forever being burned (& subsequently written over) into our eyeballs. They're now as ubiquitous as automobiles quickly became once civil engineers began designing roads / bridges and contractors laid asphalt.
But there's a difference in usage for a movie theater screen and a screen in your pocket. Yet is there? Which might be more or less influential and why?
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Soon, we'll be presented with the notion of moving into a virtual reality screen where we may very well engage within a digital world. No doubt, this world will be incredibly comfortable and novel, providing us with seemingly unlimited opportunity to be entertained. The experience will occur in isolation yet behind a communal facade. Very similar to the social media experiences of today but holistically more encompassing. This will be a world where "everyone's equal" and has "a voice" that can be harnessed (somewhat covertly) by market makers to rake in the advertising revenue.
I'm of the opinion that they'll be very few cultural limits (moral) to what we'll be experiencing within this metaverse because of that "protective" facade. For it will coax us into believing we're actually not unhealthily isolated via this pursuit. May that very well be its greatest deception?
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As you know, technology is the engine that's driving all of this. Mostly for profit but some too simply out of curiosity. As microprocessors get faster and faster, our technologically accelerative culture gains that much more momentum as it exploits these advancements. Costs too, play a factor here. For the mass production of these incredible microscopic devices, which move vast quantities of data at the blink of an eye, has become so streamlined and optimized that they're now integrated into everything around us.
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So why am I writing a post about this?
We are not pagans. We're called to be holy. Set apart.
Yet, we're sitting squarely within this culture that I've described above because we too are westerners. Westerners who refuse to live in caves.
And, there're those strings that I mentioned within the first sentence. Let's close this one up by addressing those caveats themselves.
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Your brain, no matter how spiritually mature you consider yourself to be, is being systematically shaped by our culture's devotion to tech. And your brain is where your soul resides.
This is truth.
This shaping is the web of strings that we commit to whilst engaging within our culture, and it's impossible to not agree to (be influenced by) because our brains (way of thinking) are malleable (especially when emotions are involved).
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What can be done - as individuals - to intentionally resist / put into perspective this systematic soul shaping? How can we detoxicate / disassociate / work against these powerful cultural influences?
1. Limit screen time, and the most pragmatic means to accomplish this is to purge as many of them from your life as you realistically can. This may sound unrealistic, but it's easier to do once you recognize the importance of protecting yourself. On a related note, if you're unwilling to discard a particular device, temporarily decommission it via distance. Leave it behind.
2. Engage with other Christian men who've recognized the call to be holy and who're willing to assist one another within that pursuit via relational accountability.
In closing, to expound a bit on #2, based on my experience, this process needs a format (like a Samson Society charter) to drive it forward with aplomb. And despite the fact that there's no Academy Awards to be handed out therein, it's just as much a blockbuster for the soul. Enriching, uplifting, convicting, prioritizing, re-sensitizing, humanizing, qualifying.
Sunday, November 28, 2021
Rob's First Virtual Samson Society Meeting
There's a lot to be said for embracing a fresh perspective. The Samson Society virtual community has offered that fresh perspective to Rob as of late. Having attended the 2021 National Samson Society retreat this month, I was convicted to jump in.
The image above is the calendar for this month detailing the available virtual meetings. As you can see, they're readily available most days.
How might you access these, if you were to choose to follow suit?
Firstly, you'll need to attend a Newcomer's meeting, and from there, you'll have access to any and all of these. The Newcomer's meetings are listed on the homepage of www.samsonsociety.com. These are mostly facilitated by either Mr. Tom Moucka, President of Samson House (nonprofit arm of Samson Society) or Mr. Nate Larkin, Founder of Samson Society, and their purpose is to properly screen guys for participation within the virtual community.
Also available, in order to complement the virtual Samson Society meetings, is a hugely popular group text application dubbed Slack. It has a myriad of channels and is designed to "keep the conversation going" long after the virtual meeting(s) have ended.
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Ever since this past Thursday (Thanksgiving) attending my first virtual Samson Society meeting, I've come to see these meetings in a completely different light. Before, I was biased towards the face-to-face meeting from the standpoint of having "physical access" to other Samson guys. And there's much relevancy embedded within that prejudice.
But, during this season of my Samson journey, there's something to be said for being in community yet also keeping it somewhat at arm's length. Particularly from the standpoint of maintaining what I desire moreso now more than ever - horizontality.
What is horizontality? It's me not being held to a higher standard. Instead, it's me simply being allowed / expected to be me. Warts and all.
Friday, November 26, 2021
Monday, November 22, 2021
Sunday, November 21, 2021
Goodbye Cruel Girl(s)
The only time I was ever physically assaulted on the playground at school was during 4th or 5th grade. At the time, I was around the same age as my youngest daughter. But what made the assault unique was that it ensued from a girl. And it was not at all provoked except by Rob being Rob. My assailant absolutely hated me, and that hate had only swelled as elementary school progressed. Hence, when she saw her opportunity to beat me up on that particular day, she did so with a vengeance, striking me in the head and face repeatedly with her fists after shoving me to the ground. I remember not fighting back, but instead crying out that I had a recently been diagnosed with a brain condition. Upon hearing that, she eventually got off of me whilst mocking my ridiculous ruse. From there, I quickly dusted myself off before putting as much distance as I could between her and me (from that point forward).
After this day, I remember being terrified of this cruel girl, and not only because she'd humiliated me with her assault on the playground. I'd never witnessed anyone basking in others' pain as she did. She was like an uncaged wild animal that just happened to be one of my elementary school classmates year after year. There was so much hatred in her little girl heart. It was breathtaking to behold.
During middle school, this same girl would unabashedly mock our new-to-our-private-academy history teacher - during class - by calling him gay, queer or fag. She did this at least once a week, intentionally loud and demeaning. The studious young man (fresh out of college) would seethe upon hearing this, yet he'd simply try to ignore the verbal abuse and attempt to keep on teaching. On occasion, he'd throw her out of the classroom, but more often than not, he'd simply attempt to make the best of a situation that truly was unmanageable. These derogatory descriptors weren't readily used during the '80s, therefore that made them that much more vulgar and shockingly disrespectful.
Once I moved into 9th (or maybe 10th) grade, I caught wind that this girl had become pregnant (over the summer) and therefore had dropped out of school.
I breathed a sigh of relief (as did my classmates).
I often wondered if her baby turn out to be the Antichrist.
High school became slightly more civilized once she was gone.
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When I arrived home from the 2021 National Samson Society retreat, I was delighted to see one of our neighbor's homes up for sale. That particular homeowner, around the beginning of this year, had communicated her disdain for me and my entire family via the magic of text messaging.
Over the course of the preceding weeks (before she revealed her disdain), she and I had been collaboratively working to schedule a date / time for her family to share an initial meal with the Turners. And that sporadic communication had gone as one might expect.
Yet, whilst looking back on that, I should have never been communicating in this manner with a young female neighbor. Instead, the arrangements should have been made between she and my wife (who knew her slightly better than I did).
Nonetheless, I immediately blocked her number after her verbal vomit, but not before she'd had the opportunity to mock my disabled wife in the cruelest manner. It was a heartless attack that left me speechless.
Over the course of this weekend, their U-Haul truck was loaded up twice, and each time they ferried it out of our cul-de-sac, I could feel my blood pressure diminish slightly. Last night, one of their vehicles was still remaining, parallel parked on the street out in front of their former 2-bedroom abode. But then, after we returned home from church, all reminders of their presence had been removed.
One quick side note: A day or two after this neighbor's venomous text messages landed in my smartphone, I sat down with the girls and gave them clear instructions. Everyone listened intently, and thankfully, no one questioned my orders. In a nutshell, I relayed to them that I'd become aware of this woman's mental health issues, therefore in light of her instability, they were to steer clear of the family at all costs. And they did.
And from there, we did as the Bible instructs and prayed for their salvation and well-being.
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Throughout my life, I've at times found myself having to associate / work alongside women who scare me via their combined intellect and virulence. And this fear is rooted in the leverage they have as emotionally driven females.
Because I'm a man, I refuse to fight these women, though I will stand up to them (if I believe it's absolutely necessary). But more often than not, I simply work diligently to put as much distance between myself and them as possible.
Being in their very presence hurts my heart. Because I know they're damaged goods. Deeply scarred. Massively wounded. More often than not by a man / men.
It makes my heart sick to see women in this condition, but it also puts a smile on my face when I see them move on.
God help them.
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