The Real Matrix

Morpheus: What is the Matrix? Control. The Matrix is a computer-generated dream world built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this.
[holds up a Duracell battery]
Neo: No, I don't believe it. It's not possible.
Morpheus: I didn't say it would be easy, Neo. I just said it would be the truth.

Although The Matrix has a more confused theology than Tom Cruise, it raises a very interesting point about life. Where The Matrix postulates that the real world is the illusion, I would use this famous quote to describe a different beast altogether. We know that reality is exactly that - real. The Matrix is entertaining fiction. Entertaining, but fiction. That world that was built to keep us under control - that isn't nearly as fictional as we would like to believe. There are no machines sucking our bodily fluids (unless you're recovering in a hospital), and there are no vicious programs trying to conquer humanity - but there is a virtual world that is trying to suck you into it.

If you don't know what I am referring to just yet, don't feel bad. Up until today, neither did I. Have you ever lost contact with a friend or family member because they don't use e-mail? I know that I have. I said to myself the slogan of progress, "If you're not online, you don't exist". The world gets smaller with every advancement of technology - and yet... something's missing.

I discovered why the world seems smaller now. It is. No, i'm not suggesting that the Earth is like a cotton shirt being washed for the first time - i'm suggesting that those of us that are not able to join the new world are left to die in the old one, making our new world nice and small. The virtual world is the Gentleman's club of the 21st Century. It is the Hall of Lords and the Order of the privileged. It is also an extremely ignorant and narrow view of a world largely unassociated with the rest of existence.

I am not suggesting that the internet is inherently evil. If I were anti-technology, I wouldn't be wasting my time typing blogs that nobody reads. I'm saying that we have to be extraordinarily careful not to loose touch with the world that matters - that vast world that hasn't grown smaller. That sea of faces that aren't able to access the world-within-a-world.

Surf, e-mail, poke, re:, Skype - but most of all, LIVE. Befriend the human beings that live around you, and don't worry so much about that dude that you met on MSN or AIM. mIRC, chat sites, Yahoo and MSN groups - all this is meaningless if you use them to replace what is real.

Today I unregister from my forums, and I delete my "hey", "hey" contacts. If you don't know what I mean by that, consider yourself blessed.

God bless you, and may He reveal his creation to you in a new and powerful way. There's a whole world to explore out there - don't just read about it!

ECW²

Long-time readers of the Truthy Report will recodnise the ECW as the Emerging Christian Writers, a writing group that I co-founded. Well, i'm sad to announce that that particular group is dwindling and is quietly waiting to die. This isn't an atmosphere that new visitors are going to want to join up with to promote their writing - therefore, my co-founder and I have decided to disband the current ECW.

I'm not so quick to give up, however. ECW2 is the temporary project name for the ECW's replacement-in-training. The following is my initial members-only release as announced on echristianwriters.com/phpBB. Please note that this cannot be viewed by non-members, which is why I post it below for you.

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ECW 2 : Let's Light This Candle!

Update:

ECW2 is starting to look like this, at least in it's initial stage:

New name - the ECW was a joint venture between Peter, Kevin & I - I don't want to drag the name around when only my vision drives it. The new name will reflect certain changes in mission and purpose:

Contemporary - where conservatism and political correctness defined everything that the ECW did, ECW2 will take a leap of artistic faith and try to embrace the freedom of the 21st century (that is, - no bland colors, and no formal speech) while still respecting biblical values.

Focussed - Instead of welcoming in members indiscriminately ECW2 will be designed to be more publicity and less community oriented. Targets must be met to achieve membership status and to maintain membership status. These may include staying active, being published (self-published or professionally), and being screened to avoid un-biblical theologies.

Website - The emphasis will be not so much on the forum, but on the website itself. For those of you that are concerned about what this new site will look like, I can assure you that it will utilize a template as its core, with custom material on top. Initial color schemes are looking like black baground with bright highlights, or white background with punchy highlights. Whatever it ends up being, it will look somewhat futuristic with a touch of artistry.

The mission of this new group will be push emerging Christian authors that aren't afraid to be punchy, write genre-stretching material (no bland rehashes of the classics), and to draw in a fanbase that will actually improve our authors' sales, as opposed to the ECW which unfortunately catered more to members than to generating new readers.

I'm still working on the details, but that's my preliminary vision. (Well, my secondary preliminary vision I suppose. A few people were already privy to my blunt and short primary preliminary. lol.)

What do you think? Is this something that you would be interested in following me with?

I'm always interested in everyone's comments, congratulations, and constructive criticisms, the 4 great C's of progress. Okay, I just made that up. Sounds catchy though...

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I can be reached at cmikeff@hotmail.com. I am accepting members even now, before this goes any farther, so let me know if you are interested. As I mentioned above, prospective members will be screened to insure that the ECW2 is free from bad theology and individuals of questionable character.