Friday 26 August 2011

a riot on holiday!


Been away from two weeks, the world went mad, but normal service has been restored, so it appears, so I'm left wondering whether I simply dreamt it all!
Back from two weeks in Cornwall, which was like falling back in love - with Cornwall, I mean. Spent two weeks wondering where everybody was as I keep hearing about how many people are staying in the UK for their holidays. We've avoided Cornwall in the summer for a good few years (crowds, paying to park, weather, etc.), but the last two weeks suggest something else.
Whilst away we try and avoid TV, radio, e-mail, blogging(!), newspapers, so were unaware of the riots until they'd past the peak.
I did end up reading something about what was going on once we were aware and have no great desire to add to myriad of reflections in terms of who's to blame, what was really going on, etc. What I couldn't help thinking about, however, was the nature of the organisation behind them, if that's the word. I was simultaneously reading around various things feeding into the reality of our present and future challenges as the people of God within the UK. The same words keep cropping up in both stories: networks, social networking, viral communication, spontaneity, flexibility. I recall someone's comparison to al qaeda and missional multiplication networks. This is not to suggest what's happened is not really important in and of itself, but ..... I need to think about that some.

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