General Assembly -- Day 6
Today is an experience of the grunt work of General Assembly--a day when Presbyterian process takes the fore. There are so many efforts and endeavors before us, but in our system, we work with a set of protocols and directives for how we orderly answer questions and set forward a course of action.
The thing of it is that our process is one of many steps, and it is easy to get lost in the process' turns, twists, and straights. By the time amendments, counter motions, substitution motions, questions, and clarifications are sorted, observers and even voters may well have lost sight of even what is being voted on.
By having a baroque system of work (one of many curlicues and arabesques), we hope to give everyone a voice, but in an orderly manner.
But what gets lost?
I wonder if the impact of vital decisions gets lessened. I wonder if we lose the human element--i.e., perceiving and feeling the heart of what is happening. I wonder if we lose God in the process.
I wonder...
My thought is that weary people often make decisions that may later prove troublesome. You see it in tired moderators' losing sight of where we are in the debate. You see it in delegates who quickly "call the question," ending debate, not because everything is said that needs saying, but simply to get moving. After time, after rest, and after deeper consideration, we suddenly find ourselves wondering how we got where we are.
Now, some of you reading this may think I am being overly critical, but actually it is my pastoral nature that moves me.
My belief is that all of us who gather from the Assembly come with open hearts, open minds, and a willingness to listen for the Spirit, attempting to find ways to embody our belief in Christ and then engage the world in that belief, taking words from the page to become ways of life. Yet, in this grunt work, we often fall into being worked over by the process, not really getting to actively embody or engage our faith with the world.
Yet, we are who we are. We act as we act. We follow the way that we have found to be the most effective and most efficient (even if sometimes that gets blurred).
The prayer then becomes that God redeems. What I mean by that is as human beings, we are fallible. No process we use is perfect. No decision is without imperfection. We do the best we can with what we have. That means that grace is a momentary experience--i.e., it is something we experience in every moment. We all need redemption all the time. Every word and action needs grace to become an act of God's love and compassion.
May God so bless us in each hour of our decision making.
The thing of it is that our process is one of many steps, and it is easy to get lost in the process' turns, twists, and straights. By the time amendments, counter motions, substitution motions, questions, and clarifications are sorted, observers and even voters may well have lost sight of even what is being voted on.
By having a baroque system of work (one of many curlicues and arabesques), we hope to give everyone a voice, but in an orderly manner.
But what gets lost?
I wonder if the impact of vital decisions gets lessened. I wonder if we lose the human element--i.e., perceiving and feeling the heart of what is happening. I wonder if we lose God in the process.
I wonder...
My thought is that weary people often make decisions that may later prove troublesome. You see it in tired moderators' losing sight of where we are in the debate. You see it in delegates who quickly "call the question," ending debate, not because everything is said that needs saying, but simply to get moving. After time, after rest, and after deeper consideration, we suddenly find ourselves wondering how we got where we are.
Now, some of you reading this may think I am being overly critical, but actually it is my pastoral nature that moves me.
My belief is that all of us who gather from the Assembly come with open hearts, open minds, and a willingness to listen for the Spirit, attempting to find ways to embody our belief in Christ and then engage the world in that belief, taking words from the page to become ways of life. Yet, in this grunt work, we often fall into being worked over by the process, not really getting to actively embody or engage our faith with the world.
Yet, we are who we are. We act as we act. We follow the way that we have found to be the most effective and most efficient (even if sometimes that gets blurred).
The prayer then becomes that God redeems. What I mean by that is as human beings, we are fallible. No process we use is perfect. No decision is without imperfection. We do the best we can with what we have. That means that grace is a momentary experience--i.e., it is something we experience in every moment. We all need redemption all the time. Every word and action needs grace to become an act of God's love and compassion.
May God so bless us in each hour of our decision making.
Comments
Post a Comment