We are a culture addicted to debate. Augmented by argument. Fiery in opinions. Vehement in opposition. Stringent with talking points. Or at least, that’s my current perspective…
See, that’s the thing: we are really good at butting heads. Most of us (even the non-confrontational pacifist types) hold very strongly to our opinions and viewpoints, often blurring them with beliefs and reason. And are we ever good at it!
Take any public debate–especially in the realm of faith and science–and you have people who are passionately “right” about everything. Never mind the fact that both sides of a debate (for example “Intelligent Design” vs. “Darwinian Evolution”) seem absolutely logical–the only possible answer–to the adherents while the other side is clearly delusional and misinformed, or worse: uneducated. But that’s it: both sides act the same way regardless of who has more proof stacked up or logic or academic backing or wide-ranging institution.
Oh, I wasn’t going to chime in on that debate. It seems silly to me for reasons I may divulge at a later date. Anyway, one thing I’ve learned from this whole post-modern suspicion of absolutes is that the only way to truly communicate truth among relativists is through shared experience whether stories from our journeys so far or engaging the path together.
Tracing the path together… You see, we can argue till we are blue in the face about this or that and have great debates and clear logic, excellent proof and powerful persuasion, but conviction (which is not ours to create) is a reaction to truth and truth is better relayed through shared experience: something essentially immeasurable.
Open Source is more than just a bunch of free software. It’s a concept of exposing the paths and methods we’ve used to get where we are and inviting the community in contribute, collaborate, examine and test, correct and discover, and, of course, make sense of where we are now (and where we are going) in understanding where we come from.
Perspective, or rather: being aware of perspective as our frame of reference or “paradigm” shapes our communication, our opinion, our world… So knowing it’s there and at least trying to understand each other’s context exposes/opens the source and, hopefully, allows us to discover more about ourselves, each other, and perhaps even God.
Youth Ministry is where I’m at and I know a lot of folks with good stuff to say who simply need a venue to develop their voice. This is Open Source Youth Ministry… and now you know about about the path I trod to get here.
~Jon
