Thursday, November 13, 2008

Reflections on St Torley

As part of the SL Bloggers Mix n Match, this is what I posted on "Samantha Speaks", the blog of Samantha Poindexter of the 1st Church of Rosedale (Immersionists) in Caledon Penzance. The topic, "Is SL Truly a Second Life or an Extension of the First?" was suggested by Kirasha Urqhart. I was feeling a bit...inspired.Pastor Poindexter has held many services here at the Church of Rosedale. After donning my vestments in the colors of the Order of St. Torley, I gazed upon the image of Philip our Creator and thought about the smiting of communities, but today I want to create positivity. WWTD? I wish to reflect upon the teachings of our beloved Saint--he who believes in the infinite goodness of watermelons, creativity, and our world with its power to change and transform us. We are in a time of trouble and turmoil, and for many of us, our lives inworld are mimicking that of our lives in RL and currently involve worry, stress and drama. We must ask ourselves, "What do we want from our precious time in here? What makes it all worthwhile for us to be present--to have a presence?" Our lives inworld are what we make of them and this is a world of infinite possibilities if you can see them. Believe me when I say that they exist. This can be a place of wondrous imagination if you know where to look for it and change can happen even easier than it can in RL. St. Torley once said, "Second Life should be a complement to RL." It does not take its place. It should not take its place. Reclaim your Second Life and make it work for bettering your real one. Our lives inworld can make us walk away afterwards understanding more...wanting more...or perhaps inspiring us more. I will leave you with these thoughts: "Blessed are the travellers on this path we call our virtual lives. Forgive those who conspire against you, as your life here is not theirs. Cherish those who make life inworld a joy, as our lives here are ephemeral and every moment is to be treasured. Go forth into this world and experience all it has to offer while you can. May your inventory stay intact, your prims rezzed, your lag nonexistent, and your crashes be few."

As I left the 1st Church of Rosedale, I thought about a question St. Torley asked, “What’s your greatest dream of being free?”

Thanks to Vint and ArminasX for all of the hard work they did herding us blogger cats to do this...I really enjoyed it. Young Geoffrion wrote about my suggested topic, "SL as an Exploration of Culture & Diversity," on Harper Beresford's blog.

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