Last week, I glimpsed a future paradigm for religious inquiry. Eight of us sat in a semicircle but we weren’t there to “tell our stories” or to discuss what we already knew. We were being shown something new: making content available to worldwide audiences through curiosity-driven technology. Imagine a world of content made accessible not just at the click of a mouse, but at the “click” of curiosity. You ask a question-large or small-and a content manager assembles a rich array of online resources. You follow the thread of your curiosity, moving quickly beyond your normal cultural blinders. Meanwhile, your thread of questions becomes data, so that when others far away start the same thread, your inquiry shapes what they see. As a result, I am led beyond the boundaries of my cultural milieu and self-centeredness. I can no longer pretend that my God is small, that creation is entirely about me, or that faith means attaining my personal satisfaction.
(Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest based in New York. He is the author of “Just Wondering, Jesus,” and the founder of the Church Wellness Project, http://www.churchwellness.com. His Web site is http://www.morningwalkmedia.com.)