So this week's assignment in our Proactive Ministry in a Media Culture was to perform a theological assessment of a commercial that was produced to exist in a commercially mediated space. We were given the choice of three commercials and I chose one titled "Eat Together," a piece that was produced by the Canadian government and aims to get people to down their technological devices and "see" each other. The easy way to do this, of course, is through eating with one another.
As people of faith, the direction this commercial takes should not be surprising to us. After all, we are acutely aware of the power of eating a meal together. We know that in the taking of the bread and wine during communion, we are communing with Christ, and that brings the Holy Spirit into the experience.
I see it the same with eating a meal together. There is transformative power in breaking bread around a common table, and that was the emotional string the Canadian government was trying to pull in its video: to encourage us to reach out to others, to ignore the temptation to avoid others and bury ourselves in our digital screens. For context, here is the video:
Our assignment was to do perform a theoretical assessment of the piece, and then work through what scriptures might apply in this instance. I'll spare you the play-by-play of the work through of the assignment, but I will tell you that the scripture that this commercial most reminded me of is Matthew 18:20: "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
I find this scripture playing itself out in the “Eat Togther” commercial. The woman, disheartened by the disconnectedness she sees all around her, decides to invite her roommate into a her plan: Move their dinner table into the hallway, and invite others to join them. And, lo and behold, it works! … Their neighbors come out in droves. The joy from the simple act of two roommates eating dinner together in the hallway spreads to the others on the same floor. And thus this scripture demonstrates the ability that bringing to people, and thus the Spirit, has to heal.
I shared in the homework assignment that this commercial was poignant to me because my wife, Shelley, and I started a similar movement four years ago. It's an event that we call the "Longer Table Thanksgiving." You can read more about it here. Just like the woman in the video, we too are disheartened by the disconnectedness we see all around us, and we wanted to make an effort to reach out to the world. The result was the "Longer Table Thanksgiving." Well, we just had our most recent event, and you can see a video about it here.
But, we also were to record a mini-podcast about the assignment, and so you can find that here. ... Excuse the poor quality! ... A certain someone has more writing skills than he does audio skills!
Regardless, enjoy the clip, and I'd love to hear about your thoughts on how we think theologically about the media culture in which we live, and the media that we consume. Let's strike up a dialogue, and maybe, just maybe, we can foster some community in the process!
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