The tools of Mammon?

Given that one of the implicit aims of Convivium is to challenge consumer culture, there’s a certain irony that I should find myself spending hours putting together a ‘launch’ video. What’s more emblematic of our culture than a promotional video designed to grab people’s attention and attract them to whatever’s being marketed? I’ve faced similar problems with my books, two of which directly critique the role of mass marketing in our culture, which has then made it difficult for me to promote my books without becoming part of the very thing I challenge.

Fortunately, I’ve made my peace with hypocrisy–one can’t long be a preacher without doing so.

But, in a way, my dilemma points to the dilemma everyone living in the developed world faces: we can’t help but participate in the system, elements of which almost everyone laments. We mourn the closing of local restaurants and pubs even while we sit in front of the TV eating our dinners or we worry about Climate Change as we sit comfortably sheltered from the elements or we burn gasoline driving to the trail head where we’ll begin a long hike. And so on…

The many ways we’re compromised shouldn’t drive us to despair. It has been ever thus with people who have wanted to change how the world works. In Christianity, we call that living in a sinful world, which is just an old fashioned way of saying that everyone is neck deep in muck. None of us can, therefore, behave self-righteously.

That recognition is one of the key requirements for conviviality as no one likes to share a meal with a jerk.

If you’ve not watched it yet, please do take a look at the launch video. We hope to produce more in the coming months both to whet your appetite about all the events we have planned but also to flesh out in more detail our over all vision and the principles on which it’s based.

The blog will give us a chance to share information, invite other writers to offer their insights and experiences, and to get feedback from readers. These will be interspersed with my musings about life in a medieval Cathedral Close and my regular walks amidst the Brecon Beacons National Park with my wife, Sarah, and our two spaniels Cuthbert and Humphrey. That’ll give me a chance to indulge my love of landscape photography. So, please do check back often.

We hope that you’ll find this site useful and informative, but also inspiring. Let us know about any content you’d like to see or if you’d like to help with Convivium.

We hope to see you at one of our events. We’re very excited about the future…