General Assembly -- Day 4
Some of the committees are done, others winding down, and one--the Way Forward Committee--is suddenly realizing they are almost, flat out of time with a bunch yet to do. You can watch a committee work and think you have a handle on what will be presented when the Assembly reconvenes for the plenary sessions to vote, and suddenly realize you have no clue what is coming. Things change. A new voice rises that no one heard before. A procedure gets derailed. So, even while listening in on committee meetings, following the updates, and all, we still won't really know what is coming until the votes begin to fall.
I am someone on the periphery. With no voice or vote in the proceedings, all I can do is watch and listen.
And pray.
That erases any presumed divide between me as an EP and someone sitting in any pew in any congregation anywhere in the US. We are all Presbyterians waiting to see what our appointed representatives choose to do. We will have to accept what is done; i.e., we can't alter or change the proceedings, just let them unfold.
That's where the prayer comes into play.
We trust that God is present. God is present. The issue is whether or not we acknowledge that presence, or simply get lost in what we want to see happen. So, we will pray through the reports, pray through the votes, pray to awaken to God.
Then we will trust that God was in the decisions made.
That gets hard when something does not go our way. So many folks here have a real stake in decisions to be made. These items are their passion. It is hard to accept it when someone else trumps your passion. I know I am praying that our decisions will break the tide of divisiveness that so wracked the outcomes of the last few Assemblies. I pray we will back away from the extremes, seeking to find the common ground that will continue to allow us to heal and mend our communities. But I have met very real people who have brought these things to our attention, and they really and truly believe they are speaking for what is good, and holy, and just. How would it feel to have the group tell you, "No"?
My further prayer, then, is that we will not become proud if something we want wins, for that means someone else loses. This is not a basketball game. This is church. Church should not be about wins and losses, but about being a fellowship that finds the grace of God in every moment. Choices are made, which draws lines within our fellowship, but is there not a way to see the lines, but still that we are all still within the confines of grace? that we are being directed toward the kingdom? that the way I read the map needed adjusting, someone else saw the adjustment, and so we turned aside? that we are still walking together?
I pray so.
Brilliant light, or sucking darkness--they still wait to be seen...
I am someone on the periphery. With no voice or vote in the proceedings, all I can do is watch and listen.
And pray.
That erases any presumed divide between me as an EP and someone sitting in any pew in any congregation anywhere in the US. We are all Presbyterians waiting to see what our appointed representatives choose to do. We will have to accept what is done; i.e., we can't alter or change the proceedings, just let them unfold.
That's where the prayer comes into play.
We trust that God is present. God is present. The issue is whether or not we acknowledge that presence, or simply get lost in what we want to see happen. So, we will pray through the reports, pray through the votes, pray to awaken to God.
Then we will trust that God was in the decisions made.
That gets hard when something does not go our way. So many folks here have a real stake in decisions to be made. These items are their passion. It is hard to accept it when someone else trumps your passion. I know I am praying that our decisions will break the tide of divisiveness that so wracked the outcomes of the last few Assemblies. I pray we will back away from the extremes, seeking to find the common ground that will continue to allow us to heal and mend our communities. But I have met very real people who have brought these things to our attention, and they really and truly believe they are speaking for what is good, and holy, and just. How would it feel to have the group tell you, "No"?
My further prayer, then, is that we will not become proud if something we want wins, for that means someone else loses. This is not a basketball game. This is church. Church should not be about wins and losses, but about being a fellowship that finds the grace of God in every moment. Choices are made, which draws lines within our fellowship, but is there not a way to see the lines, but still that we are all still within the confines of grace? that we are being directed toward the kingdom? that the way I read the map needed adjusting, someone else saw the adjustment, and so we turned aside? that we are still walking together?
I pray so.
Brilliant light, or sucking darkness--they still wait to be seen...
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