Marriage Enrichment
This weekend I'm "operating" a "Marriage Enhancement" conference (actual name of organization withheld to protect any innocent victims) at my church.
Thus far, I've learned the following:
1) Marriage conferences seem designed to teach people with the "talking head" approach. Expert gives teaching, room full of married people listens. I wonder if the format could be changed to something more... ("relational" would probably be the word I'm looking for, but I can't bring myself to use it in as part of an otherwise meaningful sentence.) Basically, I'm asking if married people have any more luck with this style of conference than they do with Sunday morning sermons...
2) Anyone with a laptop and a $100 interface box, a minimal amount of ambition, and the right connections (family connections to conference leadership might sometimes be an adequate substitute for ambition) can start a basement audio production company and make money duplicating CDs for conference-goers.
>>2b) Those prerequisites do not ensure success.
>>2c) Those with actual experience in the field who find themselves working for such a conference should be prepared to (quietly) make backup recordings of all sessions and offer them without comment or critique.
(I feel sorry for the guy, I really do; not sorry enough to give him any excuses, but certainly enough for pity.)
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4 comments:
"Dan, you just don't get it because you're not married" (can you hear the sarcasm dripping from my voice as you read this)
Seriously though, I totally understand where you are coming from. Those type of conferences make me want to hit my head against the wall.
me too. or at least they would if i ever decided to ever attend another one ever again ever.
ever.
then again, conferences in general are incredibly boring, precisely because 90% seem to involve that "talking head" approach. which, of course, doesn't address the vast majority of learning modalities. of course, you know that already.
then again, why should any sort of teaching or (dare i say it?) impartation involve relationship? you may have to get honest about your sh*t. in my books, "marriage enhancement" involves slightly more than watching someone talk.
'"marriage enhancement" involves slightly more than watching someone talk.'
Like listening to testimonies from other people so you don't feel quite so bad about your own situation?
(What, cynical? Me?)
the challenge is always to put intentions to action -- that whole "the answer to prayer is a call to action" thang...then again, i guess a real litmus test for how serious you are about working out your salvation (and marriage) with fear and trembling is whether you actually DO something about it (rather than talk, listen, watch videos, etc).
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