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Summary: Ethicsdaily.com review
Review: Some books do more than simply convey information; they help readers see the world with a fresh set of eyes.Meeting God in Virtual Reality: Using Spiritual Practices With Media, by Teresa Blythe and Daniel Wolpert, is such a book. Just released by Abingdon Press as part of its Convergence series (edited by Tom Bandy and Bill Easum), Meeting God is a quick read with a lingering message. The message is that God can reveal the divine self through media-if media consumers will take the trouble to notice. Blythe, spiritual director and media literacy advocate, and Wolpert, pastor of Crookston Presbyterian Church in Minnesota, have written a 96-page "how to" book teaching readers how to combine media literacy and spiritual exploration. The book "is for those who want to become or remain spiritually aware as they interact with television, film, music videos, recorded music, video games, and the Internet-what we are calling the world of imagined, constructed, or virtual reality," reads the introduction. Blythe and Wolpert, in an easy-to-read style, return to centuries-old disciplines to help readers do intentionally what sometimes happens intuitively-that is, turn to prayer when our psyches are affected by visual images (e.g. seeing the World Trade Center crumble). Blythe and Wolpert, for all of their interest in media, present an even-handed approach to media use in spiritual exploration. Meeting God in Virtual Reality will be a handy book for worship planners, spiritual directors, educators and anyone interested in looking at media from a new perspective-one that seeks to understand how God is, and is not, manifesting the Spirit. Blythe and Wolpert provide plenty examples of the ideas they discuss, and the skill set they hope to cultivate is well worth developing. Cliff Vaughn is culture editor for EthicsDaily.com.
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