(I pulled this post off Eric Swanson’s blog who took it from Marc van der Woude’s blog http://marcsmessages.typepad.com)
Time of opportunity
We are living between ages
Living as we do between the close of modernity and the rise of something new we need to remember that the future is still open. In particular it is open to spiritual nourishing.
The consumer narrative is weaker than it seems.
The following quotation is taken from one of the leading books on marketing. It is widely regarded by the marketing industry as something of a handbook on understanding marketing and advertising.
For the first time in human history, a shared mythos has broken down, and commercial messages are now taking the place of shared sacred stories. We know in our hearts that a profession designed to sell products cannot fill this gap. If we take the time to think of how many people are finding the only meaning they have in their lives from consumption of various sorts, we do not feel proud; we feel sad, or even outraged. (2)
Unanswered longing.
There are many pointers in our culture to the existence of just a longing for the place of valid sacred reality. The challenge for the contemporary church is whether it can meet that unanswered longing.
(Thanks Marc for a great paper!!)
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