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Monday, June 26, 2006

My thoughts on GeneraL Convention '06

I sent this email to Father Michael Russell, my rector and a Deputy from San Diego to GC06. He sent a post to the House of Bishops/ House of Deputies list that was about the Rankin Family of Ohio and their role in the Underground Railway.

Dear Mike,

Believe it or not, I am a kibitzer on HoB/HoD and I'd appreciate it if
you forwarded this to that list.

I am a novice independent religious in San Diego according to Title 3,
Canon 24, Section 3 and according to the rubrics of the service
"Setting Apart for a Special Vocation" in the BOS.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing something that is
not about General Convention,

[Rev.] Gwynn [Freund, our curate] preached a sermon [ http://www.all-souls.com/bulletins/2006/304Pentecost3.htm ]that touched us all so deeply on Sunday we applauded her at the end and, I daresay, embrassed her. It too was balm to my soul as I am feeling somewhat battered by the reaction to the last 3 or 4 days of GC.

I keep telling myself of the fine and excellent work done in the first
week about the MDG. **This** is what I long to see us Episcopalians
attending to: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, etc.

TBTG for All Souls. Maybe, Mike you were disappointed that so few of
us turned out for your presentations on what would be discussed at GC,
but to see those people on the Sunday after the end of GC and too see
them interested in keeping on' keeping on and taking care of the
business of the Kingdom, it gave me a much needed perspective that
contrasts sharply with reactions here and on Anglican and Magdalen.
So much so, that I am deleting anything from any of these lists that
deals with GC.

What I know is that Jesus Christ was in Columbus with GC. He tells us
that where 2 or 3 are gathered in His name, that He is among us. So,
unless GC gathered in the name of something or someone else and failed
to pray for the Most High God to bless you, each and everyone of you
that was at GC, Jesus was there.

So too was the Holy Spirit and She acted. She brooded/danced over the
faces assembled and She reached hearts and minds, spirits and souls.
It is impossible for anything else to have happened because the Bible
tells us all over the place that this is what happens.

To say that the Holy Spirit wasn't there and guiding, to say that that
Jesus was not in the midst of those assembled at GC must , at the very
least, be heresy. For all I know, it might be blasphemy or worse,
apostasy. I will wait with varying degrees of patience, for my
rector, Mike Russel, to return from his vacation and I will ask him.
I miss you, Mike. I need my rector. But I am so very happy that you
are taking this time to refresh and renew.

Granted, it is possible that we didn't hear, didn't see, didn't
apprehend Her presence, her actions. We can;t see the wind, after
all, only symptoms of its presence. I think it is highly likely that
none of us may have a grasp of the Really Big Picture, i.e., what it
all looks like through God's eyes.

In fact, I find myself wondering if what the Most High God, Father,
Son and Holy Spirit wants us to see as a result of GC is not our
resolutions and whether or not they will meet this or that criterion,
but how we are treating each other. That maybe it is more important
to God that we embrace each other as brothers and sisters regardless
of where we stand on The Issue. Maybe it is more important to God
that they repent, those who broke Communion by refusing to break bread
with everyone else. That maybe it is more important to God, Father,
Son and Holy Spirit, that we wash our mouths out with soap and get a
new vocabulary with which to address each other. That maybe God wants
us to see that our own egos are in the way of the Holy Spirit and that
it is just plain wrong for a bishop(s) to claim they will not submit
to the authority of General Convention and strike out on their own, in
whatever direction that might be, from refusing to abide by the
resolutions or by seeking alternative episcopal oversight.

Perhaps the work of the Holy Spirit at General Convention is to
inspire us to get over our fine selves and repent that we have not
loved our neighbor as we should and that we have done and not done
those things we ought to have done.


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May the Holy Spirit dance in your heart!

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