Borders Sale

Two days left to go at Borders! Very Sad.
I went in today with the girls and came out with Al Gore's Assault on Reason, Cyburbia by James, Harkin and Real World Research by Colin Robson. Al Gore's book is entertaining and thought provoking, and Real World Research will be very helpful as I think about my own work - towards the end of the year.
I am enjoying Cyburbia much more than I had expected - having seen it on the shelves. I have been reading it in the bath and have been learning about Norbert Wiener and his concept of the feedback loop in human/machine communications. Norbert coined the term cybernetics (based on the Greek word kybernetes - meaning 'helmsman' or 'pilot' - thanks to Robin Greenwood for introducing the term at the LMN). There's a lot here about networks, communications and Wiener's observation that communication rather than production is key to understanding human identity... Lots to reflect on...

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Literature Review

I've spent some time this afternoon tidying up my literature review. This has included a contents page, a section on professional context and a first look at "history of the literature".

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Mind of Chist

When I was in Cambridge last week I popped into the UL and began looking up 1 Corinthians 2:16 to explore the concept of the "mind of Christ". I viewed a couple of commentaries and checked out a couple of potential starting points.
It seems to me that the "mind of Christ" could be read in two potentially interelated ways:

  1. It could refer to the Holy Spirit as the self-revelatory presence of God in the Christian community. In other words, the Church knows what Christ thinks when it is open to the guidance and wisdom of the Spirit - the 'work of the Spirit defined in Christological terms' (Schrage).
  2. It could refer to 'a constellation of thoughts and beliefs which provides the criteria for judgement and actions' (Jewett, 1971). In other words, a 'web' of ideas and experiences which give the community a way of assessing the Christ-likeness of their own thoughts and actions.

These two angles are not mutually exclusive and it may help to hold them together. If the greek word translated 'mind' means 'not an instrument of thought' but a 'mode of thought' this implies a way of doing things which requires reflection, awareness, community and spirituality.
From the perspective of my work as a whole this is helpful and does fit in with my feeling that networks and collaborative processes are important in the way fresh expressions need to think.

On my return to MK I also had two papers from Zoe. One was a paper that she and Chris Rowlands had written, entitled 'Action is the life of All': New Testament Theology and Practical Theology. Once again this was a very helpful paper which raises the concept, put forward by Robert Morgan, of theology as a web in which beliefs and traditions are woven together to give meaning to a text. They also mention some work by Roger Walton, looking at seven different strategies adopted by students in the use of the Bible, which include 'resonance and analogy' and 'mutual critique'.
Building on the work of Gerrard Winstanley, William Stringfellow and liberation theologians they conclude that 'action is the life of all' and that exegesis should emerge from an interaction between action and apprehension.
They quote an intriguing example from the Centre for Faith in the Work Place in San Antonio, Texas in which a community attempted to assess a real world situation with the 'mind of Christ'. It was interesting to see an example in which this concept was used in the context of prayer, communal reflection and textual interaction.

As always after such experiences I am left wondering whether I'm left with anything left to say since I suspect they have probably said what I needed to say already (and better), but the challenge of the ProfDoc is to continue this conversation in the real context of fresh expressions and our work with emerging collaborative communities....

Need to look back again at:
The New International Greek Testament Commentary, Carlisle: Paternoster. 2000.
Jewett, 1971. Paul's Anthropological Terms.

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New Journal

I have started this new blog today to be a learning journal for my prof doc work. I am conscious that my existing blog can't serve this purpose and is too broadly viewed. Tim's Blog has developed a public persona which I am beginning to feel is unhelpful.


I would like to create this new space for myself and for those who are interested on reflecting on this work with me.

My plan is to record my work, including seminars, supervisions, thoughts and reflections - starting from now.

I will also attempt to copy across old materials from the existing Tim's Blog so that I can view them again in this context.

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Thinking Together

As I continue to read on the theme of collaborative thinking, a number of key themes do begin to emerge:

NUMBERS are important: The issue of numbers is an interesting one. The more people that are involved, the more "human resources" are available. On the other hand, the scale of the collaboration, particularly if it is voluntary, can result in a great imbalance in contribution between those who do a lot and those who do a little. Collaborative endeavours enable you to harvest the creativity of a large group of people - which is good - but there can be issues of management or governance for a larger group.
NETWORKING enhances collaboration: The networking of smaller groups is not just a convenient way of managing larger numbers. "Small Worlds Networks" provide increases in speed of communication and creativity. New ideas often emerge in the connections between smaller groups. It is the most connected, rather than the most intelligent, who often seem to be the most creative.
SELF-ORGANISATION is essential: Attempts to organise or manage collaboration often end in failure. Teams need to set their own goals and work our how they are to function by themselves. This can be a challenge for larger networks and requires a particular approach to leadership.
Learning takes place in CONVERSATION often resulting in individual action: Collaborative organisations seem not to make decisions very often. Meetings are essential but they tend to take the form of conversations in which ideas, facts and other information is shared. Change takes place at and individual and collective level resulting in consequent individual action. This raises the question of how group decisions can be enforced - and on what level collaborative action is possible.
We need a DUAL ECONOMY: Collaboration works best when it takes place on a voluntary basis. On the other hand, we also need a dependable and equitable "resource" economy to provide infrastructure - and basic human needs. This suggests a dual economy of paid and unpaid individuals co-existing in a creative tension. Such a dual economy is already emerging in many spheres of life, including media, information sciences and the Church. Collaboration makes failure cheap - which is great for creativity - but failure is not an option when it comes to individual or organisational survival...
TECHNOLOGY affects collaboration: It is important not to overlook the impact of our technology on our ability to think, share and act together. This has always been the case, but the current explosion of "social tools" is transforming our ability to collaborate.
SPIRITUALITY should not be overlooked: I am using the term "spirituality" here in a fairly loose way - perhaps in a similar way to the term "world view". Our understanding of the basic realities of human existance and the way we view the world can have a marked impact on our ability to collaborate and the way we understand collaboration. Many spiritual traditions regard each human being as containing, in some way, an expression of the divine. Some world views regard human beings as "fallen" - others as instinct-driven animals. Our spiritualities are therefore significant for the way we work together.

These, I think, are the big brush themes that I need to explore further. What do you think? Have I missed anything?

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