Keeping On Keeping On

I am a wee bit tired, and I'm not even a deputy. The entire experience of people, sounds, and things around this convention is outstanding, but requires a tremendous amount of energy to simply absorb it, much less process it all. Therefore, it is easy to be compassionate for the deputies and bishops who are working so hard. Regardless of whether I agree with them or not on issues, it is quite easy for me to pray that God give them the strength and stamina to excercise thier duties well.

Last night I attended the Presiding Bishop's forum on Reconciliation. He had gathered four speakers to promote the ministry of reconciliation as the primary mission of the Episcopal church. It was an outstanding forum, filled with passionate inspiring rhetoric that also included practical ways to get involved in the ministry of Reconciliation. Here are a few of the ways to be involved:

1. Whenever someone who has been watching the news asks you about the "contreversies of the church" begin your response witht the statement that the churches mission is reconciliation and we therefore must have people of different minds coming together.
2. ERD!!!!!!! Episcopal Relief and Development is an amazing institution with a proved track record of emergency response and continuing aid.
3. The ONE Episcopalian Campaign: Just as ERD deals with the charity side of the reconciliation coin this, movement deals with the justice side. To paraphrase Dr. King we are to be the Good Samaritan, but the we must work to make the Jericho Road safe to all travelers as well.
4. Prayer! Thomas Merton said(again paraphrasing) that you can't be a contemplative for long without eventually enaging the world for the betterment of it. Conversely, you can't engage the struggles of this creation without burning out if you aren't a contemplative. We must stay active in both out private prayer lives and our corporate worship. It's like what the singer/rockstar Bono once wrote in a lyric, "if you want to learn how to fly, you must learn how to kneel."

Godspeed,

Jason+