It is hard to believe that another year of synchroblogging is about to pass. We know that the end of the year can get very busy, so in an effort to help you plan ahead, and with the hope of finishing up the year with a bang, we have taken a little extra time to come up with the next three month’s of Synchroblog themes.
We will still post an individual announcement for each month here on the Synchroblog site and send out an individual invitation from Facebook. But, in the meantime, we hope that it helps to know the themes ahead of time and to put the dates on your calendars now.
October: Faith and Politics … What do you think?
No matter what you believe or don’t believe “faith in the public square” is something you probably have an opinion about. Here’s your chance to sound off! The subject is wide open but here are some questions if you need help getting started:
Should a person’s faith impact their vote? What place does faith have in the public square today? Is it possible to detect the fruit of the spirit in public figures? Does our theology help us decide what voices to give weight to and what voices to ignore or do we tweak our theology in order to support our political and/or social preferences? How can we be faithful to our own beliefs and convictions and still do what is best for everyone? Is our faith a good reason to create legislation? Should we be concerned about the faith of our leaders? Does connecting faith and politics do more harm or more good? Do you think there should be more or less religious talk coming from those who hold or are seeking to hold political positions?
Share your perspective about faith and politics on your blog this month. Post your links in the comment section of the October announcement at www.synchroblog.wordpress.com by 6pm on Tuesday October 9th and a link list will be published on Wednesday October 10th.
A special thanks to K.W. Leslie and Carol Kuniholm for inspiring the theme for October through their input via our Synchroblog survey!
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November: The Spiritual Practice of Gratitude
It’s easy during the month of November to think about thankfulness. A lot of us will probably in some way, shape or form, say “I’m thankful for…” this month. But gratitude is much more than a feeling or something we talk about around the holidays. Gratitude can also be a powerful spiritual practice that opens our hearts to the rhythm of giving and receiving that is the heartbeat of life itself. Many believe the spiritual practice of gratitude not only has the ability to transform us as individuals but can also change the world we live in. However, like so many other spiritual practices, it takes intention and focus.
This month’s Synchroblog theme invites writers to share their thoughts on gratitude as a spiritual practice. What do you think about gratitude as a spiritual practice? How would one go about practicing gratitude as a spiritual exercise? What are you learning about gratitude? What practices help draw you to gratitude? How is your experience with God deepening through gratitude? What benefits does the spiritual practice of gratitude offer to you, others, the world?
Share your thoughts about the spiritual practice of gratitude on your blog this month so we can learn from each other. Post your links in the comment section of the November announcement at www.synchroblog.wordpress.com by 6pm on Tuesday November 13th and a link list will be published on Wednesday November 14th.
A special thanks to the many bloggers who filled out the Synchroblog survey and expressed an interest in the subject of “spiritual formation” for inspiring November’s theme!
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December: Tell Me A Story
We find a lot of comfort in the story of Christmas, as we should. Advent is that time each year when we slowly make our way through the journey of that wonderful birth so long ago. Very often we, as the larger community of Christ, consider this season from the perspective of expectant waiting. But Advent is about much, much more … it’s about the harbingers of Jesus’ ministry on earth … hope, and love, and joy, and peace. What are your stories of hope, love, joy and peace? How do you remember them and pass them on to your family or your neighbors? Can you see the shadows of Jesus in them? Since it’s Christmas, won’t you please tell us all a story about Advent in your everyday life.
Share your story on your blog this month. Post your links in the comment section of the December announcement at www.synchroblog.wordpress.com by 6pm on Tuesday December 11th and a link list will be published on Wednesday December 12th.
A special thanks to Sonnie for answering the Synchroblog survey and inspiring the December synchroblog theme by reminding us that the best posts include people’s stories.
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Liz, I often find that I get very excited by the monthly theme, start to think about it and have a definite idea… and then completely forget about it until the day arrives. Would it be possible to receive a reminder, either by email or by FB private message or as a post to this blog about three days before the monthly synchroblog? That would really help me be more involved.
Marta – if you have a smart phone you could set up your calendar to alert you a couple of days in advance or if you use gmail it has a calendar that can send you event reminders via SMS messages, emails, or popups. Actually any email service probably has something like that. There are really a lot of options available these days for a person to get reminders about upcoming events but it is up to each person to set up there own personal preferences since there is nothing here on this site that can be scheduled to send out reminders. I hope that helps.
Marta … does your blog platform allow you to schedule posts in the future? I know that both Blogger and WordPress allow for that. If you have a focus, it would then be an easy fix to write your post when your muse hits and schedule it to post on the appropriate day. Maybe that would be another alternative.