The Cause or Causes?

It is amazing really. I simply cannot get away from 'the' issue at Convention.

I went in early today to see the hearing of the National Concerns Committee. They have a resolution to look at and perfect concerning the ongoing violence and possible genocide in northern Uganda. Over the past few months I have been doing a great deal of reading about the Lakes Region of Eastern Africa. So, I was interested to see what all of this was about. Well, I sat down and the chair announced they were splitting into subcommittees and the hearing were postponed. Here I was all ready to learn and suddenly found myself with nothing to do.

The only thing that looked remotely interesting was the Special Committee session. These are the folks responsible for drafting TEC response to Windsor. When I came in they were going over a resolution word by word and line by line. The committee discussed and argued about quoting from the Windsor report and how to list paragraph citations. It would have been horribly boring except that this is an indication of just how divided the Committee really is. There is no consensus on how to proceed or what the final message should be to work toward.

The Committee is quickly running out of time and still have about 15 resolutions to deal with. Each step of the way they stop to hold hearings to see how folks will respond to their work. The process is so slow that it may be broken. I have a feeling they may just end up reporting out basically what they take in and let the Houses deal with the mess.

So what is the problem? The Committee is being pulled in two opposing directions. Part wants clarity and for language and message to come directly from Windsor and what the Primates have said. The other part wants the TEC response to be our own with very limited sourcing of outside material. Each side struggles with the other and debates last a long time. At one point today a member actually said that no consensus exists and that they should just go for majority opinion. Well, ultimately that is what will happen. It is just rather shocking to hear it in open session.

After the daily Eucharist (which was much better today with some great jazz reworking of classic 1982 music) I volunteered with EGR. Six of us stood outside the worship hall and snapped our fingers every 3 seconds. That is how often a child dies from preventable disease and hunger. It was amazing, or will be when I see the video. We were snapping away and folks just walked on by. Only a handful asked us what we were doing. A fitting metaphor, I think, for how we really deal with these issues. In case that came off as a bit preachy, let me assure everyone that I am no different than most Americans. I spend most of my time thinking about my own needs instead of the starving children of the world. It is not right and is something I work on changing in myself.

After the 'snapping' I spent a couple hours gluing popsicle sticks together to form a giant cross. The cross was worked on from the Eucharist to the end of the legislative session and was made of 10,200 sticks. That is the number of children that died during that time of hunger and disease. I worked from 11-1. Folks were really interested. Pictures were snapped, interviews were given, and Mike Kinman was making connection like crazy. It really is impressive to see him at work.

At the end of my shift I was talking to Mike about the video they were about to show concerning Uganda and the rebel army that kidnaps children for soldiers and sex slaves. Very ugly situation. I told Mike that I had heard that the Diocese of Southwest Florida was working on a reconciliation plan in that area and that I wish I could find out more about their plans. Well, it just so happened that the bishop was sitting on the sofa ready to watch the video. Mike introduced us and we chatted for about 30 minutes. The bishop and I do not agree on 'the' issue but we have much in common with respect to the need for reconciliation and finding creative ways to prevent human rights abuses.

After lunch with some Missouri folks, I spent the afternoon in the HOD. Nothing terribly exciting except for one item. They passed a resolution to adopt the Revised Common Lectionary as the official lectionary by 2010. That means reprinting of the Prayer Book. I believe the Bishops have already passed the resolution.

This evening I attended the Integrity Eucharist. Gene Robinson preached. I came to GC really looking forward to this. The place was PACKED. They had to turn folks away. The mood was festive but I was not. I guess it has finally happened. I have become a liturgy snob. The hymn choices were horrible and not gender inclusive, that really surprised me. Every thing was just off.

Bishop Robinson's sermon was OK. He cried a couple of times (if I was under the stress he is under I think I would cry even more). The message was that we must love our enemies. Nice message. Can't really argue with that but I was expecting something more. I have been to too many GLBT services where we proclaim God's love for us and love for those who do not share that opinion. Let me be clear. I have no problem with the message but I do think as a community we could be challenged in other ways. I would have loved to hear a message of how the challenge lays before us to be instruments of reconciliation and healing.

One of the things that the Bishop of SW Florida said to me was that reconciliation only happens through personal contact. I think he may be right. Perhaps we are being called to venture out of TEC and construct personal contacts in other provinces of the Communion. Or maybe not. The point is that this church has been mostly open to GLBT folk for some time now. This cannot be 'the' issue forever. Perhaps it is time for us to be challenged to do a new thing. Doing a new thing does not mean giving up on the old. It means expanding the vision.

I believe the MDG's are a new thing (well not really, it is actually recapturing a very old way of being Christian that converted the Roman world by caring for the poor). The question is how this new thing can be fused to the old that will do justice to both. Sorry, no answer for that one.

Till tomorrow.