"Just because you’re going it alone doesn’t mean you have to be alone"

Note the worldview on display in the CNN "Belief Blog" entry, "The Secular High Priest of SXSW." It's a worldview shared by folks that many in my congregation work with. An excerpt:

For Bijoy Goswami, [SXSW] is a high holiday with as much virtue as vice. He sees SXSW as a secular celebration where people join together to take the tools of technology and transform them into world-shaking culture.

It's no accident that Twitter was released at SXSW.

At 39-years-old, Goswami is the quintessential Austenite with long hair, a casual style and a computer science degree. He has made a home and built a career around the Austin ethos. He's introspective, relaxed, hip and weird - in a good way.

Goswami describes Austin as a place of becoming: “I’m trying to figure out what to do in my various aspects of my life - spiritual, work, relational - things like that. Austin gave me the communities to work through those questions for myself,” he says.

...

As a secular priest of sorts, Goswami has officiated weddings and provided council [sic] for hundreds in the Austin startup community.

...

One such person counseled by Goswami is Josh Baer, manager of Austin’s Capital Factory incubator. Goswami was a crucial part of his development as an entrepreneur.

Goswami “has this Zen quality and personal confidence that makes people feel comfortable sharing their dreams and aspirations,” Baer says. “He guides others on their path.”

To Baer and hundreds like him, Goswami is like a high priest for Austin’s entrepreneurs, a role he built over the years by leaning on the lessons of the faith he left.

He created a congregation of like-minded entrepreneurs by founding "bootstrap Austin," an informal group of founders coming together to share experiences. His message is that just because you’re going it alone doesn’t mean you have to be alone, and it permeates the Austin start-up scene.

It would be good for you to stop a moment and pray for my congregation as they build relationships among co-workers who find Goswami's worldview compelling--and pray for me as I equip them to do so.

 

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