A resource I do recommend is The Work of the People. It is a digital liturgy. They use the lectionary texts to come up with digital resources for worship.

VISUAL LITURGY is our new line of products inspired and shaped by the events of the Church calendar and the Scripture texts of the Revised Common Lectionary. We will create new Visual Liturgy pieces weekly. These films are contemplative pieces that reflect on Scripture and help create a time of meditation in preparation for worship, during Communion, before, after or during a sermon, or even as a benediction at the close of a service. These films can be used in many ways; the goal is that they would promote focus and reflection on the Word of God.

If a picture is worth 1000 .... Christianese

I received a link in my junk mail box to www.goodsalt.com. It looked interesting, my wife is always on the look out for stock photo sites. I was disappointed. This site was full of the inspirational fluff that fills the art section of the Christian book stores. What is more, they charge amounts that rival the high end commercial stock photo places. Ugh.

IMAGE DOWNLOADS:
SMALL 1024px 72dpi:
(local church projection use only)
** US $9.95

SMALL 1024px 72dpi:
(Nonprofit website use only)
** US $49.95

MEDIUM 5-6MB 300dpi:
(half page - print up to 5x7 inches)
** US $89.95

LARGE 28MB 300dpi:
(full page - print up to 8.5x11 inches)
** US $239.95

Even their free stuff you are restricted to only projections, not web or print. This ridiculous mix of greed and Christian sub-culture dismays me, but it is what I expect from the Christian sub-culture. To their credit they do have culturally relevant images, like a black Jesus.

For a decent stock photo site, use www.istockphoto.com.

The spectre of climate change

Today we had our first real snow of the season. I have to say I have found our pleasant weather ominous. I had it in mind that if it didn't snow, some dark catastrophe loomed.

directing self-disclosure

One of the things I've been trying to get my head around in my ministry is how to take ordinary situations and make them opportunities for spiritual direction. I agreed to teach a workshop on question asking for a peer counseling program at the high school. I've been doing some searching online thinking that maybe I'd run across what I'm looking for. The problem is I had to think about what I'm looking for. Here's what I've discovered.

I'm thinking the work of discipleship is moving into the realm unknown to yourself and others. What I'm looking for is how do I as a pastor, spiritual director or friend, encourage someone into their unknown?

Here is my hypothesis. To encourage movement from left to right, from open to blind, I can engage the person with compliments. Positive information they may not know about themselves will both build relational trust and begin shared discovery. Here are some insights I found from an article "The Manager As Conversationalist"

1. Give Direct, Honest, and Personal Compliments:
   Positive observations about appearance, disposition, general responsiveness and accomplishments are usually easy to make and well received.
   
2. Ask people for information, for advice or merely for an opinion:
   Questions are one of the most subtle forms of compliment. They directly acknowledge the value/superiority of the other person by asking for assistance.
3. Tell your associates about their strengths, what they do well and their contributions to you.
   Frequently the people with whom we work are the last to know how we really feel about them. We assume they know and therefore never share with them our feelings.
4. Identify the most positive impression people make and share it with them
   This may require developing a personal list of strength words such as charming, poised, professional, competent, warm, genuine, intense, forthright, pleasant, etc. If you are not used to doing this, it will take some practice. The more accurate you are, profound the effect.

Another form of feedback useful in this movement to the blind spot, is clarifying repetition. By stating observations about what you are hearing in what your friend is telling you, may open a new realization to him as to what he is really saying, what he really believes.

In moving down the window, encouraging self disclosure (moving from open to hidden) I think that my own self-disclosure will encourage a greater reciprocal self-disclosure. Also the use of open questions encourages self disclosure.

I think by simultaneously using techniques to move deeper shared discovery can happen. Alternating questions and feed back, self-disclosure and compliment, moving more and more to the spiritual, the inmost hidden parts of who we are together. It this the essence of spiritual direction?

I know this is basic interpersonal communication stuff, but what is a new idea to me is using the johari window for some one else, eliciting response, rather than just understanding my own side. By opening my window actively with others I encourage them to open theirs and together we share spiritual discovery.