This document provides an outline for a presentation on living and loving God in the 21st century amid digital media. It discusses how digital tools are changing contexts and epistemology. It addresses challenges like individualism, commercialization, and self-enclosed spaces. It advocates approaching digital media with constructivist and connectivist pedagogies that foster openness, curiosity, and relationally. The presentation aims to explore implications for work, sharing authentic witness, and embedding a relational sphere of knowing in communities and daily work.

1. living and loving God in the 21st century
digital media and work
fratrum minorum capuccinorum
rome, italy
28 october 2015
prof. mary e. hess, phd

2. what can be said?

3. must speak tentatively
• digital tools are deeply contextual
• digital tools are changing all of the time
• while much is being said, there is yet little consensus

4. my own context: Luther Seminary, upper midwest, Roman Catholic,
formed by the Paulists, the Jesuits and the Benedictines

5. abbey, academy, apostolate

6. When I came to you, brothers, proclaiming the
mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of
words or of wisdom. For I resolved to know
nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ,
and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and
fear and much trembling, and my message and my
proclamation were not with persuasive (words of)
wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and
power, so that your faith might rest not on human
wisdom but on the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5

7. outline
• the contexts we inhabit, in light
of digital media
• the spiritual challenges of this
context — in particular, how we
know, and who knows us,
shapes how we work
• ways forward in work and love
of God in the midst of digital
media

8. part one: our contexts

9. Pope Francis visits the US

10. authority, authenticity, agency

11. entertainment media offer us agency through consumption

12. yet in Christian life we confess
the primary Agent is God

14. cultural inversions
• becoming increasingly
individual, while deeply desiring
community
• becoming increasingly
independent, while longing for
relationship
• becoming increasingly
commercialized, while longing
for authenticity
Wesch

15. authority, authenticity, agency — Pope Francis has become a focus for
our longing and he embodies what he teaches

18. part two: spirituality

19. ... spirituality is understood as the unique and
personal response of individuals to all that calls
them to integrity and transcendence.... [it] has
something to do with the integration of all aspects
of human life and experience.
Sandra Schneiders

20. …spirituality is that attitude, that frame of mind
which breaks the human person out of the isolating
self. As it does that, it directs him or her to another
relationship in whom one’s growth takes root and
sustenance.
Sandra Schneiders

22. we risk stumbling into self-enclosed spaces

24. what epistemology?

26. relationality is a key component of learning

27. instrumentality is highly problematic in digital
spaces

28. self-enclosed vs. open and curious selves-in-relationship

30. it’s not just how we know — our understanding of
how media function has shifted, too

31. immunize against bad content or protect with good content? neither is
effective

32. medium as a culture in which to grow meaning

33. medium = culture in which to grow

34. from consumer to producer
from passivity to participation

36. formation demands constructivist/connectivist
pedagogies in these spaces

38. attributes of the facebook generation
• all ideas compete on an equal footing
• contribution counts for more than credentials
• hierarchies are natural, not prescribed
• leaders serve rather than preside
• tasks are chosen, not assigned
• groups are self-defining and self-organizing
• resources get attracted, not allocated
• power comes from sharing information, not hoarding it
• opinions compound and decisions are peer-reviewed
• users can veto most policy decisions
• intrinsic rewards matter most
• hackers are heroes

39. participatory culture
• play: the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-solving
• performance: the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery
• simulation: the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world processes
• appropriation: the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content
• multitasking: the ability to scan one’s environment and shift focus as needed to salient details.
• distributed cognition: the ability to interact meaningfully with tools that expand mental capacities
• collective intelligence: the ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with others toward a common goal
• judgment: the ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information sources
• transmedia navigation: the ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities
• networking: the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information
• negotiation: the ability to discern and respect multiple perspectives

41. what might we retrieve, reclaim, and re-authorize?

42. ultimately, we know as we are known
and we must remember whose we are!

43. part three: implications for work

44. authority, authenticity, agency
knowing as we are known
finding routes to congruence and integrity in work

45. True poverty creates community because it converts
self-sufficiency into creative interdependency where the
mystery of life unfolds for us. Only those who can see
and feel for another can love another without trying to
possess the other. Poverty is that free and open space
within the human heart that enables us to listen to the
other, to respect the other and to trust the other
without feeling that something vital will be taken from
us…. Conversion to poverty and humility is the nucleus
of Christian evolution because it is the movement to
authentic love; a movement from isolated “oneness”
towards mutual relatedness, from individualism toward
community, where Christ is revealed in the union of
opposites in the web of life.
Ilia Delio

46. True poverty creates community because it converts
self-sufficiency into creative interdependency where the
mystery of life unfolds for us.

47. Work does not constitute only a source of support
for making a living, but is an active participation in
the creative work of God. The human being as
“created creator” is called to a profound respect for
and protection of creation, respecting in this way
his primary vocation as collaborator with God.
Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum

48. the human being as “created creator”

50. the power to create is the power to act
our lives are only possible because of those around us
there are barriers that stand in the way of achieving
creative lives for all
think: authority, authenticity, agency

51. two forces arrayed against us:
economization
self-enclosing spaces

52. economization (described well in Wendy Brown’s recent book, Undoing the Demos

53. (1) we are human capital not just for ourselves, for also for the firm, state, or
postnational constellation of which we are members
(2) inequality, not equality, is the medium and relation of competing capitals…
when we are figured as human capital in all that we do and in every venue,
equality ceases to be our presumed natural relation with one another
(3) when everything is capital, labor disappears as a category, as does it
collective form, class, taking with it the analytic basis for alienation,
exploitation and association among laborers
(4) when there is only homo oeconomicus, and when the domain of the
political itself is rendered in economic terms, the foundation vanishes for
citizenship concerned with public things and the common good
(5) as the legitimacy and task of the state becomes bound exclusively to
economic growth, global competitiveness, and maintenance of a strong
credit rating, liberal democratic justice concerns recede
Wendy Brown

54. economization is colonizing our imagination

55. where is God’s agency in an economic sphere
where human capital becomes something for
which even labor disappears as a category?

56. what about self enclosure?

57. context collapse can draw us into self enclosing spaces where we become oblivious to God’s
overwhelming love

58. so what contests these forces?

60. even in the midst of the “future of work” discussion
about automation you can find glimpses…

61. … people need to stay ahead of the curve, not by
being “faster or cheaper” but by developing,
honing and capitalizing on the capabilities that are
uniquely human and cannot be replicated today by
automated software. Such activities include
collaboration and teamwork with a highly diverse
workforce …, creativity, curiosity, constructive
problem-solving, inventiveness, empathy and
physical touch.…
The Robot and I

62. this is a space in which your deep understanding of the value and meaning of work is a rich resource far
beyond your borders

63. (1) makes grow the sense of belonging and reinforces
responsibility
(2) helps to live poverty in a concrete way
(3) develops the gifts of the individual and prepares him for the
service/ministry he will carry out
(4) allows one to live like the common people, getting one’s
hands dirty
(5) makes felt the duty to earn one’s daily bread
(6) helps in reflection on one’s own vocation
(7) helps in discovering the value of essential things
(your survey)

64. in what ways is this knowing mutual and
reciprocal? in what ways is it shared and creative?

66. you need to share this witness!
certainly there are voices beyond this community
that have resonance with yours…
here are some examples of how other
organizations are using digital media to share and
to learn

67. U Lab at MIT

68. To connect with a deeper level of our humanity.
To profoundly change the world requires us to connect
to our emerging self. And in order to discover who you
really are, you need to go out into the world.
The transformation of capitalism depends on our ability
to reshape how we connect to each other, to the
system, to ourselves.
Build the capacity to sense and actualize a future that
we feel, that we know, is possible.
U Lab at MIT

69. I am because of who we all are

70. In a culture paradoxically suffering from anonymity
and at the same time obsessed with the details of
other people’s lives, shamelessly given over to
morbid curiosity, the Church must look more
closely and sympathetically at others whenever
necessary…. The Church will have to initiate
everyone – priests, religious, laity – into this “art of
accompaniment” which teaches us to remove
our sandals before the sacred ground of the
other.
Evangelii Gaudium

71. I would even say that the future of humanity is in
great measure in your own hands, through your
ability to organize and carry out creative
alternatives, through your daily efforts to ensure the
three “L’s” (labor, lodging, land) and through your
proactive participation in the great processes of
change on the national, regional and global levels.
Pope Francis

72. (1) The first task is to put the economy at the
service of peoples.
(2) The second task is to unite our peoples on the
path of peace and justice.
(3) The third task, perhaps the most important
facing us today, is to defend Mother Earth.
Pope Francis

73. here’s another example as people seek to share
the conviction that we must understand ourselves
in whole communities, not simply as individuals

74. Next System project

75. As systems fail, individual and community creativity
explodes.
Our actions and our imagination have to match the
magnitude of this problem.
It’s a challenge. We can do it collectively,
neighborhood by neighborhood, step by step.
NextSystem

76. we have resources in Catholic community for doing
this work!
here’s another example created by one of my
students, Nicholas Romeo

77. Nicholas Romeo

78. but these pieces only have power, they bring us to
action, only to the extent that they have authority
for us — and authority is most often based on
whether or not they are experienced as authentic

79. how we understand “work” in this world we are
living and loving in demands a recognition of the
relational interdependency of our very selves

80. it demands a recognition of the ways in which our
knowing is deeply embedded in our relationships

81. it demands a recognition of the work of the Holy
Spirit already present in, already active throughout,
digital media

82. how do you embody this relational sphere of
knowing in your community?
how do you embody it in the ways in which you
work?
if you believe these things about work, how is that
experienced by each of your community
members?
and how is it shared out into the world?

83. believe
create
share

84. in the day to day work of creating community, you
are tending something very precious to the wider
world — how will you share it?
how, in sharing, will you learn from those who
engage it with you?

85. the work you are doing here, in seeking to
understand your unique approach to work, is
precisely what needs to be shared out into the
world…
how will you do that? how will you invite people
into your stories?

87. Text Citations
Michael Wesch (http://mediatedcultures.net/youtube/an-anthropological-introduction-to-
youtube-presented-at-the-library-of-congress/)
Sandra Schneiders (Sandra Schneiders, “Theology and Spirituality: Strangers, Rivals or
Partners?” Horizons 13/2 (1986) 264-265)
Parker Palmer (To Know as We Are Known, and The Courage to Teach)
“Attributes of the Facebook generation” (Gary Hamel, Wall Street Journal blog
Management 2.0 (retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/management/2009/03/24/the-
facebook-generation-vs-the-fortune-500/ )
Henry Jenkins on participatory culture (https://www.macfound.org/media/article_pdfs/
JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF)
Ilia Delio (As cited by Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton,
Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2014)
Wendy Brown (Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s Stealth Revolution, Brooklyn, NY:
Zone Books, 2015, pp. 37-40)

88. Video citations
Social media revolution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJepzjUhDfg
Information revolution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4CV05HyAbM
Power to Create
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZgjpuFGb_8
U Lab at MIT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF8wV9OlUHc
Next system project
http://thenextsystem.org
7 themes of catholic social teaching
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VpQPEoE2O4&feature=youtu.be

89. Images
Pope Francis
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File
%3APope_Francis_Korea_Haemi_Castle_19_(cropped).jpg
Pope Francis and selfie
http://www.nj.com/south/index.ssf/2015/04/
wanted_10000_volunteers_for_pope_francis_visit_to.html
Pope Francis with young boy
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/09/27/pope-francis-trip-highlights-
unscripted-moments/72934240/
God’s work our hands
http://splcwaukegan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/godswork.jpg
Pope francis paying bill
https://timenewsfeed.files.wordpress.com/
2013/03/2013-03-15t125301z_1033579735_lr2e93f0.jpg?w=720&h=480&crop=1
Pope Francis kissing feet
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02510/francis-slum-feet_2510124b.jpg

90. Images, continued
Pope francis eating
http://www.catholicsun.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/cafeteria-pope.jpg
Pope Francis with children
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/size680/
Pope_Francis_met_with_street_children_during_his_visit_to_the_Philippines_onJan_16_2
015_Credit_ANSA_OSSERVATORE_ROMANO_CNA_1_16_15.jpg
Barna group data
https://barna-barnagroup.netdna-ssl.com/images/bu-030415-2b.jpg
censorship
https://pikeknight.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/cartoon-of-head-with-many-hands-over-
mouth-censorship-1s8do9x.jpg
a girl with a book
http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/exploringourmatrix/files/2012/10/wpid-Photo-
Oct-13-2012-547-PM.jpg
alone together
https://qim.is.quoracdn.net/main-i-2387f17ef02a0a0bec1c1d1e7156aed53a220b2d

91. Images, continued
alone together kids
http://gitsufba.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/turkle-alone-together-
pb-88f9e3ced21cdc4f60ba4f2483fecd72420b1823.jpg
self alone
http://static1.squarespace.com/static/50f35ea9e4b09d40370f0f40/t/
525c1f30e4b01dd0533e0efd/1381769009624/Trapped+pic..jpg
pope political cartoon
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/t31.0-8/
s960x960/11953368_10207732909859316_4304161829951477823_o.jpg
st. francis sculpture
'God's Fool' by Frank C. Gaylord / Photo by Jim Frazier
https://www.facebook.com/PrayerOfTheHeart/photos/a.
231884600179998.50177.231844600183998/910413482327103/?type=3&theater
people becoming barcodes
https://greenstarnews.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/barcodeevol.jpg
humans as currency
http://jeremiahwilliams.info/solo/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Humans_Cash.jpg

92. Images, continued
please don’t commodify my culture
http://cdn.thebolditalic.com/e=resrcit_cdn_origin/s=h1000,pd1/o=85/http://
cdn.thebolditalic.com/paperclip/articles/3393/hero_images/original/HERO3.png?
1374710904
isolation snap judgement
http://snapjudgment.org/sites/default/files/isolation-700x320.jpg
unable to connect
http://psykmagasinet.no/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/themwifies.jpg
lego guy on ledge
http://m.c.lnkd.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/
AAEAAQAAAAAAAANtAAAAJDIxZDM0ZGQ1LTI2MDctNDM1NC05M2Q0LTMwMzQ0NT
Q5MjJlYw.png
iPhone
http://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/w1600h900crop/public/field/image/
2014/10/iphone_6_review_hero.jpg?itok=Jnir8f95

93. more info: mhess@religioused.org
meh.religioused.org