Yes & No

         I woke up this morning to the sound of an unhappy baby.  George has been sick the last few days and it has taken a toll on his mood and all of our sleep.  After quieting him down, I got up and attacked the list of last minute tasks that I wanted to get complete before leaving for 10 days...most important of which was snuggling with my kids for a few minutes before our goodbyes.  By 8:15 we were out the door, dropping Emily off at daycare before heading to Redeemer in Biloxi for Clericus.  Along the way I picked up two McDonald's breakfast sandwiches.  I hadn't made time to eat before leaving the house, but the snuggles had happened and the dishes were done.  At Redeemer, I had a few minutes to tie up some loose ends before Clericus started.  I did't get them all tied up but I did have another opportunity to hold an unhappy baby.  Soon, the Coast Convocation Clergy gathered for worship and fellowship.  It felt good to ground this day in worship and to then enjoy fellowship and meaningful conversation with people I love.  We talked GC and expressed our own excitements and anxieties about the 10 days in Salt Lake.  We shared local questions and concerns and enjoyed a meaningful conversation about baptismal preparation and how to handle baptizing a child who, of their own volition is asking to receive the sacrament, when the parents are not church goers.  Pretty soon it was time to head to the airport. Saying goodbye to George, Emily and Robert was hard. But saying goodbye to them means saying hello to GC and the important work that will happen these next ten days.  On the plane, I continued my reading of the Blue Book.  I haven't had enough time before now to finish reading it.  

My good friend, the Reverend John Newton once reminded me, while we were talking about balancing life and work, that when we say yes to something, we are always also saying no to something. And when we say no to something, we are always also saying yes to something else.  It's an incredibly simple concept yet when we actually become intentional about realizing that, it can really impact our choices.  This morning I said yes to the dishes and to snuggles and no to any semblance of a healthy breakfast.  By going to GC for 10 days, I am saying yes to serving my Diocese while saying no to spending time with my family and parish.  Life is full of these choices; we make them at almost every moment of our day.  At General Convention we will have a limited amount of time to wrestle with the resolutions placed before us.  Some of those resolutions have very practical implications while others tackle the theological stance we want to take on issues facing us today.  Some resolutions speak to the moral and ethical stance the Episcopal Church takes on justice issues.  I firmly believe in the intent of most of these resolutions but I struggle to see how debating and passing these resolutions does much for your everyday Episcopalian.  Most of these resolutions commend or applaud or encourage or affirm an idea or action or principle.  Yet, there is no real body of action to make sure the Episcopal Church actually carries out whatever affirmation or commendation or education the resolution calls for.  Yet, we are using human capital to debate and educate about these resolutions so they can be passed.  While I support the intent of these resolutions, I wonder whatwe are saying no to when we spend that time saying yes to discussing these resolutions? How might we be missing the movement of the Holy Spirit calling us into down and dirty missional action that will reach all the way down to the congregational level?

General Convention has a great deal of work ahead of it in the next 10 days.  There will be many opportunities to say yes and therefore, many opportunities to say no.  I think one of the most important challenges facing us though is what we are going to use our time and energy for.  I believe everything that General Convention is trying to do is grounded in faithful witness to the reconciling power of God.  Yet we have a finite amount of time as a large group to figure how best to live into our missional call over the next 3 years.  What are we going to say yes to over the next 10 days and what will receive our no?  Please pray that the gathering of leaders from each Diocese will make wise choices about yes and no.  Please pray that we really listen for the movement of the Holy Spirit and how God might be calling us to say yes to new and life giving missional opportunities.