My favorite musical artist of recent years (thank you John Biris) is Steven Wilson. Anne even has been bitten by his musical genius bug. His solo album is coming in November. As always, expectations are high. One of Wilson's peeves which comes out in the music often is the state of culture and the unqualified use of media, especially by the youth. Consider this quote:
insurgentes the movie
"My fear is that the current generation of kids whore being born into this information revolution, growing up with the Internet, cell phones, iPods, this download culture, American Idol, reality TV, prescription drugs, PlayStations — all of these things kind of distract people from whats important about life, which is to develop a sense of curiosity about whats out there.†Steven Wilson, MTV News
While I may not agree with the ultimate conclusion (curiosity isn't the ultimate importance), yet his critique is valid. Art has suffered because people have stopped watching, stopped listening, and most off all stopped thinking. I'm fighting the impulse to consume media, instead talking, reading, and observing. The pastorate forces one to be curious… what makes people tick. What makes the media-saturated children tick? How do we preach into those staring eyes? I'm still mulling it over, especially in the context of the "emerging church" critique of and solution to this culture.Â
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photo credit:Â
Darryl A. Ring
