Perspectives: Peaceful Place

This is a pier on the lake at Stonewall Resort near Weston, West Virginia.  Steve and I had dinner here one evening during Annual Conference.  It's a peaceful place to visit.

 

Annual Conference at WVWC

 This is a view of West Virginia Wesleyan College. Steve and I were taking a break at lunch. I grabbed this image and sent it to our son, who is an alumnus of the school - just to tell him we were thinking about him. 

This is a lovely campus and a holy place to hold Annual Conference.

One Matters award

 This is an image of a church in our Annual Conference receiving a One Matters award. What struck me about this presentation is that the person at the far right of the line is the church's pastor. I love how he has positioned himself farthest away from the Bishop (the woman shaking hands with those on stage). It feels like he is highlighting how important the work of the laity is in the ministry of the church. 

The Place Where you Belong

 As I mentioned in a previous post, at Annual Conference this year, Michael Beck, who is the Director of Fresh Expressions for the United Methodist Church was the guest speaker for our educational time.  

Among the information he shared, was a focus on compassion. He reported that we are living in an epidemic of isolation and loneliness.  We as the church have the gift to offer: a communal life in Christ. People are longing for that gift. And yet, 1 in 3 people have experienced religious trauma. He theorizes that we are having a crisis of compassion in the church. We don't offer wholeness or belonging.

Soon after Michael Beck's presentation, we heard the song "Well Done" by the Afters.  Here is the chorus:

Well done, well done

My good and faithful one

Welcome to the place where you belong

Well done, well done

My beloved child

You have run the race and now you're home

Welcome to the place where you belong.

In my mind this came together: in our churches, we should be offering compassion and hospitality to such a radical degree that it is like heaven - Welcome to the place where you belong.

Annual Conference Sunday School

Last Sunday, I taught Sunday school at Annual Conference.  I've taught it for several years now.  I've noticed a few things:

• It starts at 8:00 a.m., prior to the 9:30 start of the Commissioning/Ordination service.  After a long few days of Annual Conference, I think it takes a special person to come to Sunday school at 8:00.  I'm grateful that some people do, and that some of the class has been there every year I've taught.  It's a habit for them.
• We use the Adult Bible Study curriculum.  There are those who don't want to miss that - they do it every Sunday at their home church, and this keeps them connected when they are away.
• I'm excited by how active the discussions are.  I plan a full lesson, but it is made so much better by the discussion.
• I've noticed that the people who come to Sunday school at Annual Conference probably have a more traditional faith than I do.  They have a strong faith (I hope I do, too), but I doubt we agree on most things of faith.  That said, I love teaching this class because I make it a point to teach from my own faith in a way that honors theirs. It really keeps me on my toes, and is a wonderful challenge.
• In times of division, it would seem  that this class would demonstrate the evidence of this division.  It is a real example of how we can get along with each other, honor each other, and make space for God's grace among us.  For the past couple of years, it has been a real oasis of what the spirit can do among us.  

 

The New Covenant's Sacrifice - Sunday school, 4

Annual Conference Sunday School Lesson, Cont.

Conclusions

In what way does the new covenant initiated by Christ’s sacrifice create a new life in you?

Christ’s sacrifice gains us forgiveness of our past sins – and it opens new life for the future.

Quote from Elizabeth Forney:  this changes everything.  No longer does the community need to keep track of offenses against neighbor and God, nor report to the local priest for intercession or atonement.  Instead Christ becomes both the mediating presence and sacrifice.  Sin is still a reality, but so now is forgiveness.  We no longer belong to a fear-based community.”

Peter Wallace has a three fold statement that I like:

1. First – we are part of the redeemed body of Christ today, and that changes how we worship God.  We now have a deep, spiritual vitality – meaning prayer and meditation, and energetically serving others.  We are in the Holy of Holies – in the presence of God.
2. Christ’s sacrifice was eternally effective.  We are set free from worry that it is impossible for us to relate to God by not measuring up, not being acceptable, not being good enough.  Our relationship with god is no longer an issue – it is an eternal reality.
3. Christ will come again, and we will be engaged in expectant waiting that “is throbbing with Christ-like service” instead of fearful waiting.  We have already been made right with God.

The New Covenant's Sacrifice - Sunday school, 3

Annual Conference Sunday School Lesson, Cont.

Application

How is Christ as a high priest differ from other high priests?  How does the sacrifice differ from the animal sacrifices described in the Hebrew Bible?

• Christ offered himself willingly – the animals life was taken from it; Christ gave his life
• Jesus was the flawless sacrifice – he was human in every way we are, and yet he was without sin
• Jesus was both the high priest and the sacrifice
• This sacrifice is once and for all – it does not need to be repeated
• This sacrifice was one of love.
• William Barclay says Christ’s sacrifice changes a person’s consciences – releases a person from the burden of sin – it frees us and brings us into communion with God.

Take a look at the idea of blood as life.
What is blood?  It is life.  For the Israelites, blood was a precious gift that symbolized the essence of life.  God prohibited the Israelites from consuming blood.  Blood is life – and when our life is over, the blood of Christ continues to bring us life.

Think about Holy places
We’ve talked today about the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.  Christ’s sacrifice brings us into the presence of God and expands the Holy of Holies.

• Tell the story of Alex and the movie.
• Tell the story of the mission in California
• Tell the story of Spring Heights.

Can you tell about a holy place for you? Where are the thin places where you meet God?
What does all of this mean when we look at it in connection with the building we call Church?

Talk about our need for the rituals

1. Why do you think there was a system of sacrifices for the Israelites in the first place?  Did God need them? Or did the Israelites? How hard is it to accept the idea that we are forgiven?  
2. We read in John “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.  Indeed, God did not send the son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”  I believe that.  I believe God sent his son.  But I also believe – although I do not understand it – in the trinity. In sending his son, God came, and became human, and died for us on a cross.  
3. And in a faith that is full of contradictions (human and divine, now and not yet), could it be that the sacrifice of Jesus was not a requirement of God’s to cleanse us, but a requirement we placed on God in order for us to be convinced.  Heb 9:14a (CEB) says, “how much more will the blood of Jesus wash our consciences clean from dead works in order to serve the living God.”
4. What more effective demonstration of love could there be that God suffering and dying for us – does that not convince us that we are loved and forgiven?  Could it be that the crucifixion was necessary in order to convince us of God’s love for us?

Talk about the cost of forgiveness
How easy is it to forgive someone else? I’m not talking about when someone does something that can be explained away.  For example, your friend misses your birthday party because she got stuck in traffic.  Or there is a misunderstanding between two people due to miscommunication – those don’t need forgiveness.

How easy is it to forgive the young boy who bullies your son?  How easy is it to forgive the person who breaks into your car and steals your radio?  How easy is it for a woman to forgive her rapist? How easy it is to forgive someone?

Forgiveness is costly.  It brings tears, anguish, and a broken heart. William Barclay says, “Forgiveness is never a case of saying, ‘It’s all right; it doesn’t matter.’  It is the most costly thing in the world.  Without shedding the heart’s blood, there can be not forgiveness….Where there is forgiveness, someone must be crucified.”  And there are times when we must do it in order to be free – and yet we cannot do it alone.  The fact that we are forgiven opens up for us the relationship with God so that God can give us the power and strength to make the sacrifice ourselves to forgive someone else.

The New Covenant's Sacrifice - Sunday School Lesson, 2

Sunday School Lesson, Cont.

Examination of Scripture

11 But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), 12 he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!

A new day has come.  Christ is now the high priest, and the human constructed temple has been replaced by a heavenly sanctuary – “the greater and more perfect meeting tent.”  Christ’s sacrifice was only once and was for all time – unlike that of the former high priests, who had to repeat their visit to the Holy of Holies every year on the Day of Atonement.  It is his own blood that is used in the sacrifice.  The word redemption is lytrosis – it comes from the root word lytron, which means ransom.  It means to set free – to redeem.  I like this quote from the material: “Because of his sacrifice in the more perfect temple, Christ took us from the tent’s Holy place to the Holy of Holies.”   Think back to the Gospel description of the crucifixion of Christ.  In Mark, when Jesus died, what happened in the temple?  In Mark 15:38:  “And the curtain of temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”  Access to God.

15 For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant. 16 Where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 

I work at the Foundation, where we help people with bequest gifts in the will for ministry. This part of the passage is actually a pun – its hard to tell, because we don’t read or understand Greek, but the Greek word for covenant is diatheke – and the same word can be translated as “will.”  When does your “will” become realized?  “With ones’ death, his or her will comes into effect…. Therefore, the new covenant (will) mediated by
Christ could only come into effect at Christ’s death.”

18 Hence not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment had been told to all the people by Moses in accordance with the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Just like my box story at the beginning of this lesson, we cannot solve the problem of sin without Christ.  In Christ’s actions, there is forgiveness.  It was Christ’s one-time action –and it brings us into the presence of God.  We couldn’t do it by ourselves – the rituals of the Hebrew bible were not enough. 

The New Covenant's Sacrifice - Sunday School Lesson 1

Last weekend, I taught Sunday school at Annual Conference.  Today's post and the ones that follow are my notes for the lesson, based on Hebrews 9:11-28.

Foundation for Reading the Scripture

The scriptural basis of today’s lesson is Hebrews 9:11-18.  So let’s start with a look at the book of Hebrews.

Format:  I think I always thought that it was an epistle – much like other letters in the New Testament.  My reading in preparation for this lesson contradicts that – Hebrews is sermon or a treatise that was sent as a letter.  It does not begin like a letter with a normal greeting, but it does end like a letter would.  Structurally, it alternates between discourse and application.

Authorship:  There is a tradition that it was written by Paul, but it very much more that likely was not written by Paul.  One of the sources I read said that when the New Testament was compiled, one of the criteria to be included was that the “book” had to have been written by an apostle or at least by someone who had been in direct contact with the apostles.  But the book was well loved, and it was felt that it had to be included.  So they said Paul wrote it.

The text itself doesn’t claim to have been written by Paul – in fact the text is not very Pauline, and Origen said, “Who wrote the Letter to Hebrews only God knows for certain.”

There are a few theories.  Martin Luther thought that Apollos write it. He was a Jew who had been born in Alexandrea.  Another theory said that Barnabas wrote it.  A third theory is from a German scholar.  He thought that maybe Aquila and Priscila wrote it, and that the authorship information vanished later because the main author of Hebrews was a woman.  All interesting theories, but Origen is right – only God knows.

Time it was written:  Most evidence points to the idea that Hebrews was written in the later half of the first century. It is likely that since the destruction of the temple (which happened in 70 CE) that it was before that date. A likely date is 65 CE.

To whom was it written: It was probably written to a church in Rome, perhaps to Jewish Christians who were facing persecution, who were tempted to abandon their faith.  The author is trying to demonstrate to them the superiority of the Christian faith to persuade them not to return to Judaism.

Overarching theme:  The author wants to demonstrate that Christ has offered us access to God.  Through Christ, we are drawn into the presence of God


Background information for the lesson – context

Let’s place today’s passage in context in the book.  The first part of the chapter (verses 1-10) contain a description of the sacrificial rituals of the Hebrew faith.  I think it is important to have a grasp on this in order to understand the part of the scripture on which we’ll focus.  Imagine the tabernacle.  Two tents were part of the larger tent.  The outer tent was the Holy place.  Behind the second curtain was the inner tent – called the Holy of Holies. The priests carried out their sacrificial duties in the outer tent – but once a year, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies with sacrifices for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.  This is where God was – only the high priest could enter into God’s presence, and only once a year.

Gideon, Part 4

This week has been a reply of my notes for a Sunday School lesson I taught at Annual Conference using Judges 6:11-18.  Today's post concerns our discussion regarding application of what we can learn from the scriputre.

Fear:  Gideon and the Israelites were living in constant fear.  Think about it for a moment - what is it like to live in constant fear?  Can you think of a place in the world where the people live in constant fear? Has your safety and/or security ever been threatened? How did you respond?  This is a sidenote, but I wonder if understanding what it is like to live in fear or to have your security threatened can help increase our kindness to other people who are experiencing life like that.

Abandonment: Gideon has grown up with stories told about how God rescued the Israelites from Pharaoh through the work of Moses. He has heard about God working through Joseph in Egypt. He has heard great stories about God doing wonderful, fantastic, unbelievable things.  And Gideon wonders – has God abandoned us? Why would God do that? Have you ever been in a difficult situation and felt like God had abandoned you? Can you imagine that people would feel that way?

Doubt: Gideon experiences doubt. He doubts that God is present with them in their current circumstances, and he doubts that God is calling the right person – so he is doubting God’s abilities. What do you think about doubt? Is it a sin? Is it a natural part of faith? I think doubt is evidence that we are exploring our faith deeply – I think doubt is the growing pain of sanctifying grace – in order to mature in our faith, we have to ask God and our faith questions. I think we can trust God enough to bring God our doubts. When have you experienced doubt? Do you doubt your ability to answer God’s call? Do you find doubt in your faith? Does Gideon’s doubt help you relate to him?  How does God respond to Gideon’s doubt? with patience or impatience? How will God respond to your own doubts? How should we respond to other people’s doubts?

Why?: One of the most difficult questions we struggle with is why bad things happen to people who we judge to be good people? What are some of the ways that people answer that question?  If God makes good things happen to people who are believers, then what does that say to a faithful disciple who experiences terrible tragedy?  I worry that we steal people’s faith from them when we say things like, “God needed another flower in his garden.” The logical step from that is that God made my child sick and let him die in order to have another flower – we throw terrible blame on God when people need God the most.

Call: What does verse 14 say to us? “you have strength, so go and rescue Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not personally sending you?”

1. Do we hear in this verse an answer to part of our question about why bad things happen? Do we hear in this that we have a role to play in God’s plan?
2. Think back to the feeding of the 5000. Jesus tells the disciples, “You give them something to eat.” And at the end of the story, the disciples see the baskets, still full. I think this is a lesson for them – the abundance that is in front of them, when they only saw scarcity. There is power in God that God uses to equip us for the work to be done.
3. We are the answer to people’s prayers.  Is there a flood story that could be told here?

God with us:  One of the things I took with me when I completed my Emmaus walk is that God will be with me, all the time - whatever he calls me to go, I will not have to do alone.  Do you believe that God is always with us?  Have you had an experience that confirmed this for you?

Call to ministry:  Do you have a call to ministry? Important distinction – everyone is called to ministry – not just pastors.  Who does God call? The perfect? The wonderful and powerful? Does God choose who we would choose if it was our responsibility?  What is God calling you to do? What is standing in your way of doing it?

Conclusions

As we leave this place, keep in mind verse 16. The God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush is the same God who called Gideon, even though Gideon was full of doubts. This is the same God who fed 5000 people amid the doubts and scarcity mindset of the disiples. This is I AM. This is your God; this God is always with you, even when you don’t “feel” it.  And I AM is calling you.

How will you respond?

Gideon, Part 3

As I mentioned on Monday, I was asked to lead a Sunday school class at Annual Conference. This is a series of posts from my notes. The lesson is based on Judges 6: 11-18. Today's post is about verses 14-18.

¹⁴ Then the Lord turned to him and said, “You have strength, so go and rescue Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not personally sending you?”
¹⁵ But again Gideon said to him, “With all due respect, my Lord, how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I’m the youngest in my household.”
¹⁶ The Lord replied, “Because I’m with you, you’ll defeat the Midianites as if they were just one person.”
¹⁷ Then Gideon said to him, “If I’ve gained your approval, please show me a sign that it’s really you speaking with me. ¹⁸ Don’t leave here until I return, bring out my offering, and set it in front of you.”
The Lord replied, “I’ll stay until you return.”

Then looking at these verses:

1. The text switches from the Lord’s messenger to the Lord – don’t get sidetracked by that. Obviously, if it is a messenger, it is a messenger who speaks with the Lord’s authority.
2. Take a closer look at verse 16:  The Lord replied, “Because I’m with you, you’ll defeat the Midianites as if they were just one person.  Another way to translate that verse is to say, “Because I AM is with you...” Where have we heard that before? This is the God of the burning bush. This is I AM.
3. We’ll talk more about this later, but it is a vignette of a person being called to follow God and do God’s work, but who is experiencing doubt in his own abilities. I think it is easy to identify with Gideon.

Gideon, Part 2

As I mentioned yesterday, I was asked to lead a Sunday school class at Annual Conference. This is a series of posts from my notes. The lesson is based on Judges 6: 11-13.

Today's post is our discussion on verses 11-13:

¹¹ Then the Lord’s messenger came and sat under the oak at Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites. ¹² The Lord’s messenger appeared to him and said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!”
¹³ But Gideon replied to him, “With all due respect, my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his amazing works that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, ‘Didn’t the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and allowed Midian to overpower us.”

A few things to notice in these verses:

1. One doesn’t normally thresh wheat in a winepress – you normally would do it outside, but you can imagine the dust that rises when you separate the wheat from the chaff. The cloud of dust would attract the Midianites, who would come and take the crop. So Gideon is hiding out of fear, and also because the wheat is going to provide food for his family – he’s protecting them. But there is no mention that this is an unusual thing for the day – it must have been standard operating procedure for this time of oppression. It gives us a glimpse at how the Israelites were living.
2. So, imagine how Gideon feels when the messenger appears and calls him a mighty warrior. He probably feels like anything except a warrior, hiding out to thresh the grain.
3. And then we get a glimpse into Gideon’s mindset – his doubts and frustrations. He has heard about God’s mighty works, and yet he doesn’t see them. Has God abandoned us?

Gideon, Part 1

I was honored to be asked to lead a Sunday school class at Annual Conference this year. Our class was the one based on the International Adult Bible Studies series. For the next four posts, I'll share my notes the lesson from that morning.

Background

The time of the judges is after the Israelites had settled into the promised land, but before the rise of kings over Israel. The historical time in which Judges is set was a time when major population shifts occurred in the world – probably related to large earthquakes that destroyed large cities during the bronze age. This led to economic issues  throughout southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia. During this time period, the Minoan and Mycenean cultures came to an end. The Hittites were forced into Syria. Greece experienced a time of a “dark age.” Egypt began to decline. A power vacuum was created in the world. Smaller powers began vying for control. It was an opportunity for Israel to grow – think about David’s kingdom later – but they still had struggles, and we see those in the book of Judges.

You may be familiar with the “cycle” we see in Judges. The people would “do evil” by serving other dogs and disobeying Yahweh. God would punish them by allowing some other nation to subjugate them. After many years of oppression, the people would cry out to God. God would send them a deliverer – called a judge in some translations. The deliverer, who was most often a military commander, would lead the people to defeat the oppressor. As a result, the people would live in peace for a time, but then the cycle would start again.

The verses for study today are the call of Gideon, who was one of the judges. At the time of Gideon, the people were being oppressed by the Midians. Have you heard of the Midians before? Who were they?

1. In Genesis 25, we learn that Abraham marries a woman named Keturah. They have six children. One of them was Midian. 
2. In Exodus 2, Moses flees to an area called Midian, which some people think was located in northwestern Arabia. Others say that Midian was not a place, but was a confederation of tribes. Either way, Moses meets the priest of Midian – we would come to know him as Jethro – who had seven daughters. One of his daughters was Zipporah, who Moses married.
3. Other than these references, the Midianites were often seen as Israel’s enemy – Numbers 25-31, Psalm 83:9, Isaiah 10:26
4. They were probably nomadic or semi-nomadic people, and during the verses on which we will focus, they were oppressing the Israelites. 

Gideon was a member of the tribe of Manasseh, and he was a younger son of Joash.

Two Amendments

I just wrote this post. And then I deleted it, by mistake. Nothing is ever the same when you try to reproduce it. Sigh.

Five amendments to the United Methodist Church's constitution came to the floor of annual conference for approval. I want to focus on two of them today.

Amendment 1: As the Holy Scripture reveals, both men and women are made in the image of God and, therefore, men and women are of equal value in the eyes of God. The United Methodist Church recognizes it is contrary to Scripture and to logic to say that God is male or female, as maleness and femaleness are characteristics of human bodies and cultures, not characteristics of the divine. The United Methodist Church acknowledges the long history of discrimination against women and girls. The United Methodist Church shall confront and seek to eliminate discrimination against women and girls, whether in organizations or in individuals, in every facet of its life and in society at large. The United Methodist Church shall work collaboratively with others to address concerns that threaten the cause of women’s and girl's equality and well-being.

Amendment 2:  

In the 2012 Book of Discipline, Division One, ¶4, Article IV, amend by deletion and addition as follows:

After “all persons” delete “without regard to race, color, national origin, status, or economic condition”. After “because of race, color, national origin,” delete “status,” and add “ability”. At the end of the paragraph, add “nor shall any member be denied access to an equal place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church because of race, color, gender, national origin, ability, age, marital status, or economic

I worry that in my annual conference, there were many people who voted against these two amendments. The first one is designed to help women and girls who are being oppressed - for the church to take an official stand against it. Those who voted against it will do so because of the language that God does not have a gender. The second on is to ensure that those who are differently abled or who are not men have equal access to the church. Judging from the comments made, those who vote against it will do so because some time in the future, gender might mean more than two - male and female, even though that is how it is defined in the Discipline.

I don't understand how we can let these concerns stand in the way of opening the church or protecting those who are oppressed. My heart hurts.

Transforming the World

I heard many people at annual conference talk about how the influence of culture is changing our faith. They cautioned us to not be influenced by the culture - even as it changes, we should not.

It occurred to me that we are awfully afraid of change. Why is that? Why do we look at the culture and assume that all of the change is wrong? That we should avoid it?

As I was sitting in the annual conference sessions I wondered if we could ever be open-minded enough to consider the idea that some of the changes in culture are the work of God as God transforms the world? Or are we so afraid of change that we would never consider that?

I think sometimes change is God at work. Consider the leaps that women's rights have made over the last century. Those who read the Bible  then (and some people even now) would read it and say that it was the will of God that women shouldn't preach, shouldn't speak in church or teach men, that they should submit their lives - their will, their property, their dreams and hopes to the men in their lives. There are those who would have told you then that that kind of attitude was biblical and the will of God. 

And yet, now, I hope, we know better. We know it isn't the will of God that women should be thought of as less than men. It isn't God's will that when God calls a woman to preach, those around her should stop her because she is a woman. It's a change that probably came to the culture before it came to the church, and we finally realized (most of us) that the oppression of women wasn't and isn't the will of God. God transformed the world - and then the church caught up.

Don't be afraid to examine culture and look for where God is at work, revealing himself.

(Note about image: This is me at the podium presenting during the business session).

Is God calling you?

Is God calling you? Do you believe God has made a mistake? Do you make excuses to ignore the call? 

The work God calls us to and the answer to our call isn't about who we are - it's about what God can make us into. It isn't about what we can do - it's about what God can do through us. It's not about the gifts we have - it's about the gifts God will give others through us. It's not about our sins - it's about the grace we can offer to others.

Thought for the day: Your call may not be about you; it may be about those around you.

(Note about the image: This is a piece of stained glass crafted by our Conference Lay Leader to represent 2400 professions of faith in the conference.)

A Fork in the Road

As I mentioned, I am going to do a few series during the summer months. This week, my posts will reflect my thoughts from the West Virginia Annual Conference, held the second week of June.

The guest preacher for annual conference was Bishop L. Johathon Holston, the resident bishop of South Carolina.  In one of his sermons, Bishop Holston quoted Yogi Berra (I think), who said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." You've probably heard that before; I had, and so had many in the congregation, but we stilled laughed. It seems like a nonsense phrase.

As I thought about it though, I considered what we do when faced with a decision. Sometimes we jump to a choice quickly, and move on. Other times we ponder for a while, and make deliberate, slow choice. The third option, though, is what I thought about. Sometimes we come to a fork in the road, and we do nothing. We don't take it - we don't go either way. Why is that?

Are we afraid of making a mistake? Do we stand frozen because we can't see around the bend? we don't know which way is the right choice, so we choose nothing? 

Do we know which way we should go, and yet don't want to go that way, so we don't go either way?

Are we so caught up in the details of everyday life, that we can't be bothered to make a decision?

Not taking the fork IS a decision. Those looking at us can draw conclusions from our lack of action. It might be the wrong conclusion, but they will draw them. They might think that our lack of a decision indicates our agreement with the status quo. They might think we just don't care where the road goes. They might use our inaction as an example, and then do nothing at their road forks, too.

When you come to a fork in the road, make a deliberate decision. Take it or not, but decide.

Note about the image: This is a card I made - you can read about it here.

Where I am

This is where I'll be for the rest of the week.

I was at West Virginia Wesleyan College on Sunday to pick up Steve and two other people from our church who road in the Bishop's Bike Ride to raise funds for flood releif in West Virginia. Most of the time, when I take a picutre on campus, I focus on the Chapel, which is a beautiful building. On Sunday, I sat under a tree, waiting for the riders to arrive, and I noticed how beautiful the trees are. It was a wonderful day.

So, today I'm back, and I'll be here through Sunday. I'll be back to the blog on Monday.

Of Cicadas and Music

Last June, as many United Methodists across the state were gathering in Buckhannon at West Virginia Wesleyan College for Annual Conference, it became immediately apparent to us that we were not the only ones there. The area had been invaded by cicadas.

Have you noticed how noisy cicadas can be? There must have been a large group of them in the tree next to the side door of the chapel, because when I would walk out that door, the sound was deafening - not just noisy, but cover your ears and wince loud. In other places on campus, you could hear them, all the time, but it became white noise that you could almost ignore.

It was interesting to me the different comments people made about the sounds. Some people called the cicada sound beautiful - like a choir. Other people (like me) would wince at the chapel side door. One person said the sound they made was exactly the right pitch to strike the chord of his tinitus. Same sound, heard differently by different people.

What made the difference? Location (they were certainly louder at some places on campus than others)? Experience? Did living with them all the time create an immunity to the sound for some people? Obviously physical limitations, such as ringing in the ears, caused a different reaction.  Did attitude (such as, "I am determined to like these creatures, so I will)? All of those responses are legitimate, even if they are different.

My next comment is going to be a big jump.

Do we have the same reaction to music? There are some who love classical, others who do not like it at all. There are some who wish we sang only modern music in worship; others who find it less than sacred. And all of those responses are legitimate.

The problem arises when we value one reaction to cicadas - I mean music - over other ones.  The problem comes when we try to legitimize one person's experience over another person's experience. The problem - or maybe it is an opportunity - arises because we all hear God differently, and that includes the way we experience God in music.

If you hear God in the sound of cicadas (and some people do), then I ought to amplify that for you (even though it sounds like crazy bugs to me). If you hear God in a particular kind of music...

Let's amplify God for each other.

Circles of Grace

At Annual Conference in June, the members and guests participated in Circles of Grace. These were small groups designed to discuss what might be considered either controversial topics or complicated ones.

To tell the truth, I wasn't anticipating these circles with joy. I could easily have skipped them. I think that others do not have the same opinion that I do, and I didn't want to be caught between not speaking and saying too much. I didn't want to offend someone, and I didn't want to not defend my opinion.

But, I didn't skip the conversation; I participated. And I'm glad I did.

The topic that was discussed at the first Circles of Grace meeting was the United Methodist Bishop's "Offering of a Way Forward" This recommendation from the Council of Bishops was to postpone discussion and decisions relating to the topic of human sexuality until a Special Commission can be formed. The questions at the Circle of Grace were related to this topic.

As I assumed, there was a range of opinions in my Circle of Grace relating to this issue. What I found, though, was that while everyone was willing to express their thoughts, the rest of us showed an unusual willingness to listen. Body language was open as people strained forward in their chairs to hear every word uttered by those in the circle. We all didn't think alike, but we all knew we were called to love alike. The experience was full of hope and grace.

The gentleman who was sitting next to me seemed to have an opinion on the matter that was the polar opposite of mine. At the end of the Circle meeting, he stood and shook hands with many members of the group, but he skipped me. I wondered about that, and hated to leave the circle with that "wonder" in my mind. BUT, at the end, he hugged me.

Grace. In God, there is a way forward.