So YouTube is advertising an experiment. On July 24, 2010 they want everyone to video themselves or their environment and upload it to YouTube. Ridley Scott, famed director of movies such as Alien, is going to weave them all together to make a movie that will be available on YouTube. The idea is to get perspectives from all around the globe. This is such an interesting idea! What is banal and ordinary in my life may be fascinating in someone else’s view. The other idea behind it is to use it as some sort of time capsule. In 20, 30 or 100 years will my blogging on wordpress.com or mowing the lawn seem quaint or novel?
A month ago, I never would have considered this, but I am thinking about participating! This got me to thinking….what if we did this global with the church? What if we picked a Sunday and asked Christians (or really expand this and make it interfaith!) to film their worship/meditation/celebrations that were happening on that particular day? A baptism in Africa, a Bible study in China, or an Eastern Orthodox mass in Europe. What could we discover about ourselves and our brothers and sisters in this sort of experiment? All of the expressions of the gospel of Jesus Christ if we focused on Christianity or all of the expressions of the God/Divine if we include our brothers and sisters of other traditions. I think this could be moving and beautiful. It could show us the interconnectedness of humanity as well as our similarities and blessed uniqueness. I am looking forward to seeing this Life in a Day film in its finished product, but I think perusing YouTube in the days following July 24th will be fascinating too!
A Lutheran Says What? 
How interesting! I think you’re right on with several of your reflections. The mundane aspects of each person’s life can be so interesting to those not actually living that life. It’s the mundane details that really make up our lives…we don’t live life day to day as tourists. And how often do we hear about people traveling to other countries or regions going to great lengths to fit in with the locals? Many of us want to experience the ordinary details of other people’s lives. And your observation about time is also a good one–people in the future could look back on these videos with the same interest as our contemporaries from other cultures. This will be a fascinating project, and I love your idea about how we might do something similar in the church (or beyond)!
I know I responded to this before, but I’ll write again in case my other comment is lost in cyberspace. I think you’re right-on with your assessment of the mundane details of life being so interesting to others. Think about how many people travel to a different country or region and make efforts to avoid the “tourist” activities in favor of the “local” flavor…which typically involves the routine, everyday stuff of life like grocery shopping and cooking and so forth. When the routine is different from your own, it’s fascinating, because it’s a different perspective on something you can relate to from your own experiences. And it gets to the heart of life–the mundane is where we really live day by day. In the same way, people from the future of our own culture might have the same interest in our everyday activities, just as we have historical museums that document such things from past eras for our enjoyment. I love your idea of trying something similar with worship or other activities of communities of faith. What a great glimpse that would be into the life of the body of Christ!
Ah, comment moderation, oops! I wondered about that but missed the little note the first time around. Feel free to publish just one of these comments, since they’re basically the same!