Burning Boxes in the Twittersphere October 20, 2009
Posted by Phil Groom in Theological Reflection.Tags: Authentic Media, Cornerstone Books, David M Keen, Evangelicalism, Keira Knightly, Supersimbo, Thinking outside the box, Twitter, Unicorn Tree Books
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Boxes! Boxes, boxes, boxes — but at last we’ve unpacked them all and Sue & I are getting settled in our new home. Sue was officially licensed to her new post as Priest-in-Charge of Henlow & Langford last week, first Sunday services now over & done and I’ve survived the endless round of, “… and this is Phil, our new priest’s husband.” All in all, it’s been great to be welcomed by such a lovely bunch of friendly people.
Back to the boxes, however: you’ll be pleased to know we haven’t burnt them — most are going back to the removals company whilst the odd few that aren’t fit for reuse are going for recycling (Bedfordshire is very hot on recycling).
But I decided to celebrate yesterday by flattening a virtual box in the twittersphere, and posted:
notbovvered Thinking outside the box isn’t good enough. You need to step outside the box and flatten it. Permanently.19/10/2009 from Twitterrific
which led to some interesting conversations…
supersimbo @notbovvered burn the mutha!!19/10/2009 from web
authenticmedia @notbovvered There’s a box?19/10/2009 from Seesmic
Kercal @notbovvered Sadly I stepped out of one box, into another box and am watching the latter being flattened with me still in it.19/10/2009 from web
~~~waves of empathy for Kercal, everybody!~~~
Since authenticmedia seemed a tad bemused, I identified the box for them, but they either didn’t get it or didn’t want to:
notbovvered @authenticmedia Yeah. It’s called Evangelicalism – and you guys are in it!! <crooked grin>19/10/2009 from Twitterrific
authenticmedia @notbovvered Question still stands…there’s a box?19/10/2009 from Seesmic
notbovvered @authenticmedia just because you can see the sky doesn’t mean you’re not in the box…19/10/2009 from Twitterrific
supersimbo was more willing to engage:
supersimbo @notbovvered now that i see what you were meaning, is it possible to define “evangelicalism” as a box? It means so many dif things now….19/10/2009 from webnotbovvered @supersimbo Too late, mate: you’ve done gone and burnt the mutha! Nuthin but smoke & ash now…
19/10/2009 from Twitterrific
supersimbo @notbovvered yea but i burnt the box we have put it in, not the actual thing “evangelicalism” or whatever it is………..19/10/2009 from web
notbovvered @supersimbo Sounds kinda like setting fire to a fart to me… (oops, naughty word: slapped wristie!!)19/10/2009 from Twitterrific
supersimbo @notbovvered phil is not the messiah, he’s a very naughty boy!19/10/2009 from web
Quite right, supersimbo, I am but a mischief maker 😉 — but let the conversation go on. Not sure how Keira Knightly got involved, but she did. If you understand, please enlighten me: there could even be a free book in it for you…
davidmkeen @notbovvered now you have to guzzle a bottle of wine and throw Keira Knightly in the air19/10/2009 from TweetDeck
davidmkeen @notbovvered so the box is full of free books then?19/10/2009 from TweetDeck
unicorntreebks @notbovvered box thing – is it ok then if I store what was in the box on the bookshelves for all to see the diversity and range??19/10/2009 from web
notbovvered @unicorntreebks I’d suggest putting it out for sale rather than storage (and I suspect there’s more than evangelicalism in your boxes!!)19/10/2009 from Twitterrific
cornerstonebks @notbovvered @unicorntreebks @supersimbo @authenticmedia I am not convinced by boundary-less existence outside boxes. It is a myth!19/10/2009 from web
supersimbo @Cornerstonebks that may have been my point about burning a box with stuff in it but the actual thing we thought we burnt is still there 🙂19/10/2009 from websupersimbo @Cornerstonebks ie: effects of evangelicalism, methods, failures etc are in the box but the actual thing is too big to be contained in a box19/10/2009 from web
… which kinda brings us to the end of the conversation, with thanks to everyone who joined in and apologies to anyone whose tweets I’ve missed. Had I known it was going to spark such a stimulating dialogue, I’d’ve come up with a hashtag like #evangelicalbox — so if you, gentle reader, choose to take up the challenge of my final question, perhaps you’d care to use it?
notbovvered What do posh chocolate and evangelicalism have in common? Both come in a box with lots of varieties and… [complete within 140 characters]19/10/2009 from Twitterrific
The 140 character limit only applies if you’re twittering: comments left here can be as long as you like, I guess. My own answer is “… and a ‘best before’ date that’s long since passed for evangelicalism.” If you think otherwise, feel free to tell us why…
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in my experience of life and gardening, both of which are deeply intertwined as God pointed out pretty early on, the best thing we can do with boxes is compost them. In otherwords, chuck them in to a heap of other stuff that are not boxes, and let nature take its course. That way the good old cardboard rots down and produces a number of beneficial aspects to a compost heap, in particular providing a bit of balance for all the green waste, and making gaps where the heap can breath… I’m sure that makes sense in some way I dont really understand.
Makes sense to me, Simon, especially as we have a compost heap in the garden at our new place and I’ve been merrily piling stuff onto it. Might have to add a box or two now for good measure 🙂
Posh chocolate comes at a price for more expensive than its actual value.
Posh chocolate should taste better, but actually no nonsense Cadbury is simply the best.
Posh chocolate is something given by those who think it will be appreciated and will make others better, but it really wont and definitely doesn’t.
Posh chocolate is so expensive that they put your name on it for free, but you try and get in off again, it sticks like shite to a shoe.
Posh chocolate, looks and tastes sweet at first bite, but leaves a bitter after taste that stays in your memory for a long time.
Posh chocolate, in its wrapper looks divine, but once digested, gives you an overwhelming feeling of guilt, then someone force feeds you more, until your ill.
Posh chocolate is full of saccharin which makes you shite a lot. Then talk about shite for days and no one wants to know, but can’t help but listen.
Posh chocolate, when received gives you false hope, but the comfort factor is so short lived, the reality is heavy.
Posh chocolate is brainwashing yourself into believing all those fancy swirls make the chocolate perfect and only the ‘best’ is worth buying into, but in fact, its just a disguise to make you buy something that isn’t really that good.
Come to think of it….. A box of posh chocolates and evangelicalism have lots in common. They both even come with a list of contents and everyone picks out the ones they like.
Posh chocolate is like evangelicalism in that it tastes sweet and lovely at the time but really isn’t good for you.
But then I’m a cynical exevangelical x