Jeff Bjorgan

Jeff is the Spiritual Formation Pastor at Emmanuel Church in West Kelowna, BC. With a degree in Christianity and culture, his primary interests revolve around how faith intersects with all the various layers of contemporary society. Jeff enjoys writing, reading, and anything hockey. He is happily married to Nikki and they have a bunch of children.

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Monday
15Feb2010

We like our Heroes digital

This article recently appeared in the Peachland View

Last weekend I finally did what millions of other movie goers have done: I put some funky plastic 3D glasses over my already existing spectacles and sat down to watch the movie Avatar.  Although James Cameron’s blockbuster was finally overtaken this past weekend by another movie, it has been at the top of the box office for almost two months.  Just last week it surpassed Cameron’s other massive movie, Titanic, in ticket revenue.  I thought it would be beneficial to find out what all the hype was about.  Call it pastoral research.

Although I won’t take the time to tell you what the movie is about (you’ll just have to see it for yourself), I will say that it uses a lot of digital technology in order to create the landscape of another planet, a beautiful place called Pandora.  A lot of technology was also used to form the people of Pandora: really tall, really blue members of an indigenous tribe.

The movie was unreal.  Quite literally.  Almost everything presented on the screen is not real. 

That’s not to say that it doesn’t look remarkably real.  While watching, I soon forgot that everything I saw doesn’t exist outside of the movie.  The inhabitants of Pandora are as life-like as the human actors, and they can even act!  I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two of them were up for the first virtual actor Oscar some day.  These are creatures you can feel for, you can cheer for.  You can immerse yourself into their world.  Sure, all movies are portraying something that isn’t real.  That’s what actors do –they pretend to be something they are not.  But Avatar manages to virtually replace the actors themselves.  Who needs someone to pretend to be something when you can have something pretend to pretend to do something?

Sound fuzzy?  Try turning that logic towards the world we live in today.  The technology of Avatar only reflects where society has been going for awhile now, that is, replacing reality with virtual reality.  Collectively, we are glued to screens.  We communicate far more now through smart phones and e-mails and texts than through face-to-face encounters.  Our friendships are honed on-line through social networks like Facebook, or Twitter, or MySpace.  Our work, our schedules, our entertainment, the way we connect with the world, is all “out there” somewhere.  We know this because we see it all on screens.  Our lives, complete with shut-down and start-up capability.  

The rapid acceptance of communication technology is nothing short of remarkable.  It is at once helpful, amusing, and consuming.  I have been at a dinner meeting with a group of peers that was all but silent except for the tap tap tapping of thumbs against keyboards on Blackberries.  So involved in this virtual world.  So absent from our physical location.

I have nothing against all this living in a pseudo-society, creating pretend spaces in order to organize our lives, but I often wonder about its affects.  What does all this wonderful technology do to real living, the kind of flesh and bones, families and neighbours, mountains and trees and lakes kind of reality in which we actually exist?

One day, when we see a sunset, will we be disappointed because it doesn’t come with a soundtrack?  One day will we give up developing friendship face-to-face because it is so much easier and exciting to do on-line?  Will we become ambivalent to major human catastrophes like the tsunami in Asia and the earthquake in Haiti because it seems like we’ve seen it all before, but more stunningly in CGI?  Will we acknowledge the small acts of kindness done by unassuming locals, or will we prefer our heroes digital, doing the impossible in an entertaining and satisfying way?

A friend of mine was teaching her child about communion in church. She explained to her boy that communion was a way of remembering Jesus’ death on a cross.  The son looked at her and said matter-of-factly, “I know.  I was there.”  What he meant was that he was at an Easter pageant once, and saw an actor who was playing Jesus “die” on a cross.  For him, reality and pretence was all one big happy family.

These are the charming insights of a child.  But it is disconcerting when our societal norms begin to blur reality with virtual reality.  We cannot afford a way of living that embraces the creation of virtual humans --avatars-- who, although sophisticated, are nonetheless absent of the soul.   

Thursday
14Jan2010

Haiti: Remember, God created all of us equal

No words can describe the loss and tragedy of Haiti.  But it appears Pat Robertson is willing to give it a try.  Some Evangelicals still seem to struggle with a theology of suffering.  There is often a refusal to believe that bad things can happen to good people -either God is to blame or people are to blame.  Those holding this view certainly don't want to blame God, and there is little room for blaming a weak infrastructure and poverty largely due to a history of colonialism.  So it must be the people's fault.

Not a Christian view at all if you ask me.

It is well worth your while to listen to, over and over again, the Haitian relief worker who responded with Christian conviction to Robertson's comments.

 

Monday
11Jan2010

A Resolution of Character

This article was also published in the Peachland View

Although 2010 is well on its way, I’ve been thinking about what I want to personally focus on for the coming year.  I’ve always been big on resolutions or goals, although I’ve heard most made this year have already been broken by now.  For me, I see resolutions usually revolve around character issues: how do I become a better person, a better husband and father, and a better pastor in 2010.

Character is not the easiest thing to pinpoint.  Character is a set of traits that an individual has that others admire.  When we say we admire someone’s character it means we like what we see, and we find a sense of familiarity in the way that person chooses to live.   The more we see these traits in action, the more we trust the person.  We see them as reliable, which is also a trait that the general public tends to admire.  And trust goes beyond individuals; it’s often attached to what a person does for a living. 

The set of traits that we admire, however, often differs from person to person and from job to job.  We don’t always like defining character.  Character is a morality issue, and declarations of morality make us nervous.  Who is to say what makes someone good and what makes someone bad?  Well, like it or not, we do it all the time, and our character-bias is often betrayed by public opinion polls.

Polls are strange interpreters of character.  I did a Google search to see which vocation was the most trusted, hoping against hope that “clergy” would at least make the top 10.  It didn’t.  Reader’s Digest published a report last year that put firefighters at the top of the character or trustworthiness scale.  My apologies go out to lawyers, who didn’t fare quite as well.

Curiously, the report went on to mention which famous Canadians we trusted the most.  The list showed a bunch of well known characters in public life.  Practically speaking, it was a list full of strangers that the vast majority of us don’t know on a personal basis.  David Suzuki was deemed the most trustworthy.  Don Cherry made it to the 14th spot, followed immediately by Ron Maclean.  Even William Shatner made it to the 40th spot.

But how can we trust people we don’t even know?  How do we judge character through the many filters of media?  One professor interviewed about the poll suggested that we trust people that are passionate and “passion comes across as honesty.”  We also trust people who don’t have a conflict of interest, like journalists who “tell it like it is” (versus politicians who struggle with the decision between doing what is right with doing what is popular.  In this case, doing what is right might actually cause people to trust you less.  How can a politician win?).

Although I find it interesting which public figures we put our trust in, the poll betrays a shallow view of what we deem to be trustworthy.  It’s based on unrealistic views of what character is.  Character is not just about judging externals.  This only makes character a veneer, something we can paint with reckless abandon over public figures that we admire but don’t know.  In our society we like to build statues, brands of goodness, and then are shocked when the veneer flakes off revealing flesh and blood.  This is the tragedy of our relationship with Tiger Woods –not so much that he failed, but that we painted character on him far too thick, creating what we aspire to be rather than who he really was: an imperfect human being.  Like the rest of us.

The more redemptive approach to judging character is through engagement.  Judging character requires engagement, pure and simple.  It’s not just about judging externals; it’s about judging character by getting to know someone.

The poll noted that God didn’t rank very high on the list of trustworthiness.  Columnist Michael Coren suggested that this was because “Trust is a product of love and experience.  We trust friends, partners and parents because they have proven to us that we can rely on them.  To trust God requires that we love Him and that means we have to believe in Him and know Him.  Not easy.  The relationship demands effort...”

Which brings me back to our resolutions for 2010.  When it comes to becoming a better person, I want to develop character authentically, which takes more effort than just saying the right words and doing the right things, and I want to offer grace to others, by engaging them, getting to know them, and commending character wherever and whenever I see it.

Sunday
10Jan2010

Thoughts on snow

I was outside during the holidays, feeling restless, and I stood in my backyard in the middle of the night watching the snow fall.  And these were my thoughts: 

Snow silences questions

It stills souls

It makes midnight bright

and keeps you small, as small as the snowflakes themselves.

Friday
08Jan2010

Enneagram Part 2

I thought it would be helpful to put down David Benner's description of the different core tendencies.  I appreciate the way he describes them in contrast to the Enneagram site.  The following is our of his book The Gift of Being Yourself.

Ones need to be perfect and, discovering that neither they nor anything else in their world is perfect, are tempted by self-righteous anger.  A good biblical example of this type is Paul.

Twos need to be loved and needed, and their competence in making this happen sets them up for pride.  Martha is a good biblical example of a Two.

Threes need to be successful and are tempted to deceit, as they do whatever they have to do to avoid failure and appear in the best possible light.  Jacob illustrates this type.

Fours need to be special and are tempted toward envy, escapist fantasy and a compromise of authenticity.  Joseph, the Old Testament patriarch, illustrates this type.

Fives need knowledge, long for fulfillment, and are tempted by greed, stinginess and critical detachment.  Thomas, the so-called doubting disciple fits this pattern.

Sixes need security and are tempted by fear, self-doubt and cowardice.  Timothy is a good example of a Six.

Sevens need to avoid pain and are tempted by gluttony and intemperance.  Solomon is a biblical example of this type.

Eights need power, self-relieance and opportunities to be against something and are tempted by lust, arrogance and the desire to possess and control others.  King Saul is a good illustration of an Eight.

Nines need to maintain emotional peace and avoid initiative and are tempted by laziness, comfortable illusions and being overly accomodating.  Jonah illustrates this type.