
During my fraught relationship with social media, I followed @rethinkchurch, a progressive movement within the United Methodist Church. At one time, this “brand” seemed to represent a new generation’s spirit rising in the UMC. One of “unity” through “diversity,” words we are, unfortunately, growing to devalue in our culture, in part due to our own hypocrisy. There’s blame to go around. Thus, @rethinkchurch appears to have been swept aside during these times of the United Methodist Church’s fracture, breaking, and splintering, yet another Protestant denomination divided over the beliefs of their brains rather than united by the love in their hearts. The Christian “good news” I know does not advocate cutting community into lonely little pieces left only to God. Don’t get me preaching.
Anyway, #rethinkchurch used to offer Advent/Lent Photo-A-Day challenges every year. They would offer a calendar of words and ask that you reflect upon each day’s word as you went about your day. And if, along the way, a sight encapsulated that word you kept top of mind, you would post it on your social media feed with their hashtag. For me, it became a daily ritual, a meditation, a focus of thought and attention, and led to so much discovery. I captured a lot of really wonderful images that way, photographs in which I tried to convey more than simply what is seen. (If you are interested in the Advent 2024 photo-a-day challenge, you can find Advent 2024’s calendar of words here: https://www.umc.org/en/content/advent-photo-a-day-2024.)
So, that Advent and my road trip have aligned has inspired me to revive a little @rethinkchurch spirit on Instagram this year. Of course, this has totally made me a hypocrite for saying that social media sucks. It does suck that we have allowed the convenience of technology to force our evolution from human beings into mere products made of ones and zeros. But, admittedly, there are some good parts to it. Seeing friends and family and knowing where they are and what they are up to is top of the list. So I’ll agree with myself to post one photo a day through Advent, enjoy holiday photos, and then probably eat some cold turkey and delete the app, until Lent, maybe. My phone, my choice.
Today’s word is #time. Though I have not taken a photo, I am sharing my digital art piece, “Father Time.” I, myself, cannot even say why it is called that, but that is what came to me after it was finished. I hope you like it.
Acknowledgments:
This Advent 2024 Road Trip Blog is dedicated to my River Writers writing group: Amy Gross, who inspires me with her blog, “Someday is Now”: https://somedaynow.substack.com/; Andrea Hoag, who motivates me as she is THE quintessential road-tripper writing about her own road trips in a new memoir: https://andreahoag.com/; Annette Wasilik, who writes lyrics that speak to the heart, with music that sings to the soul: https://annettewasilik.com/; and Amanda Cisco who is a fount of good ideas and descriptive writing advice: https://www.amandacisco.com/.
Chad, many thanks for taking us on your journey. Your thoughts and ideas resonate, and I am inspired by example and resilience in these odd and curious times. Again, thank you for sharing your creativity and work.