from the Twittersphere

I'm not a social networking kind of guy--maybe that's age, maybe that's me being antisocial--I don't know.  In fact, just writing that led to all sorts of "social network venting" through my fingertips and onto the keyboard--I've just deleted all of that because that's not why I'm writing today.

I'm writing about a couple of great stories that I've read through links "retweeted" or "RT" onto our Twitter feed.

Though I'm not into all of the social networking, I was a bit fascinated with the idea of Twitter and "tweeting" statements, pictures, and even videos out to those who may be interested.  There are so many things that I see/hear on a daily basis here in Egypt or internationally that remind me of someone, or I wish someone else could see/hear with me at the time.  Unfortunately, I cannot always capture an image while driving, or sometimes taking a picture is just not culturally appropriate within the crowds that I find myself--sometimes I can get that into words, and sometimes the moment passes and I let it go.

Twitter has connected us with a few back home in Alabama and throughout the US.  I see their random tweets and know what they're doing.  In the same way, they see and may comment on what we're doing.  But, I also like that I can "follow" certain individuals that I find interesting--and if their Twitter feed is not so interesting, I can simply "unfollow".


A couple of fascinating people I've been following via Twitter are @donaldmiller and @richardbranson --Donald Miller is an author best known for "Blue Like Jazz" and Richard Branson is the media/transportation mogul of the Virgin "empire"-- two really different personalities and worldviews, but fascinating people nonetheless who make me think.  They, like so many on Twitter, often tweet or retweet stories that they read in the news or other periodicals--two of which this week really caught my attention and I not only retweeted them myself, but also wanted to share them here...

First, courtesy of Donald Miller, is an article in Atlantic Monthly on "Creative Aging: the Emergence of Artistic Talents" -- the interesting article outlines how individuals with "decreased or declining" mental capacity can actually experience an emergence of artistic talents.  The same thing that leads to the impairment of the mental faculties also leads to an enhancement of other mental faculties that make creative expression possible.  This article is a part of a small series of articles that inform readers that those with Alzheimers and other forms of dementia have not necessarily lost the means to communicate or remember, but often need to communicate in different forms (see also this article "In Alzheimer's Disease, Maintaining Connection and 'Saving Face'").

Second, courtesy of Richard Branson, is an article from the Telegraph titled, "Emily Whitehead: Girl Whose Cancer was 'Cured' by HIV" -- the fascinating account of how doctors revamped the HIV virus to basically reboot her immune system so that it would fight the leukemia cells that chemotherapy was failing to destroy.  The article further shares how this has been a helpful tactic in fighting leukemia with many other patients as well.  I also read this article of a child battling leukemia in Alabama who has made a special friend in walking alongside of her and her family during their struggle, Bama quarterback AJ McCarron.

What I love about each of these articles is the hope that they convey.  Not just a hope that things may get better, but a hope in how they are getting better.  Each story reminds me of Joseph's words to his brothers when he reveals himself to them after years of deceit and loss: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 50:20)

Alzheimer's and dementia scare us and threaten to not only take away our loved ones, but to do so in a tragic, lonely way.  But what if there are beautiful means of expression just waiting beyond what we have seen and how we had known before--what if even within this time of loss there was a time of "gaining" a different perspective of knowing our loved one than we could have known before?

Leukemia and cancer, especially among the young, is tragic; likewise, HIV and the destructive nature of AIDS has been a fearful disease.  Is it possible that what we have learned about this threat to life may actually save lives?  

The above stories reference perspectives and applications that were not readily seen--a lot of work, risk, and faith went into seeing and attempting new perspectives to bad situations.  Praise God for the imagination/inspiration, the creative, dedicated, and sacrificial work of so many intelligent and passionate individuals who are working on all these fronts and more that may have not only unlocked possibilities of great hope, but possibilities that turn negatives into positives.

From these, I'm also reminded of Jesus' words in John 10:10,

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; 

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Amen.

Worth discussing:
Who are you "following" on Twitter and why?
What good articles or information have you discovered through Twitter recently?

What negative events in your life have you watched be turned to or provide an unexpected good?

For further thinking / discussion:  Patrick Nachtigall, our Three-Worlds team coleader, tweeted out this interesting article from the Christian Science Monitor, "The Coming Evangelical Collapse".  Read this predictive article and then, in keeping with the hope theme above, consider/discuss:

- if the predictions of the author are correct, what good may God bring out of such 'collapse'?  

- what work may need to be done to help catalyze such good results?

- how can you contribute to such positive redirection?

By the way, you can follow us on Twitter @ok2serve

... thanks for your ongoing interest and prayers...