Discerning Ways Forward

Today I woke at 4:20am, spent a good ten minutes frantically looking for my wallet and frantically readied myself to board a 4:45 shuttle, beginning a 12 hour trek across the country to arrive in Sewanee, Tennessee for the Why Serve vocational discernment conference for young adults of color. Due to some unforeseen events, and any number of shifts in the organizational structure of the Church Center, final responsibility for this project managed to evade the shoulders of any one individual. Arriving here, on top of being exhausted, I thus also found myself trying desperately to keep anxiety and frustration at bay. The process of preparing for this event has often felt like the wind blown to do list, but arriving here I began to see that these are simply some of the growing pains of living into a new time that requires new ways of working. The list needed to be rearranged, rethought, whittled down and rebuilt. Perhaps not by the wind, but not by the old logic either.

We live in an odd time, when old structures are again giving way to a greater whole. The first result of this is anxiety and an even greater desire to control. We must cling on gently to ease ourselves into new ways of being, but we cannot cling too tightly out of fear or distrust--we then make ourselves and our homes too brittle. But how are we to discern the difference, when to hold on and when to let go?

Today, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori raised just this question with regard to the Anglican Covenant, whether it represented the gentle transitional clinging of grace easing a world into the new, or if it comes closer to the fear-driven clinging of an old world unwilling to change. I invite you to consider her letter, to consider her continual call to us and we to each other, to bring forth the reign of God in new and unexpected ways, and yet with forgiveness and mercy for one another.

I'm exhausted after traveling, and may not have much time to blog during the conference, however I invite you to join the young adults of this conference in considering what the call of God is in each of our individual lives and in the corporate life of the church. How are we called to transform structurally to better reflect the movement of the Spirit in this new world? What moments of clarity and singularity of purpose might be healthy and helpful in moving us forward and which are restrictive or stunting? What new spiritual logic is needed to rearrange our to do lists? Visit the website for Why Serve to keep posted on the amazing things these young people say and do and please keep the 42 young people gathered at Sewanee this weekend held tightly in your prayers as they continue to grow and find their place in God's redemption of our world.

Many blessings!

Its really easy to make simple things difficult. Just take a project you're passionate about, break it down into small parts, write them all on tiny pieces of paper, throw them up in the air and do them in the order they come down. This is often how I find myself approaching things; attempting to tie my shoes before they're on my feet. It is not for any lack of organizational skills but on account of operating in a world where everything was due yesterday and if you're not multitasking, you're not really trying. (I think of Microsoft and Hotmail's "New Busy" campaign which encourages any number of unhealthy behaviors) So I multitask and I often find myself pushing forward without a clear sense of where I'm going. I especially find it easy to do this when I consider the call to spread the good news, particularly as a profession.