Dawn or Doom?
Yep. Transition time. The Anglican Communion is at the cusp of a major shift. . .or not.
I'm reminded of my three-year-old son getting up in the middle of the night, coming to our bed, and demanding, "Switch time!" So he could be close to his mother for a few hours. There's only room for two. It always felt like a rude cosmic shift for yours truly, because I always got the boot when this happened. Thankfully, he doesn't do this anymore. I finally rebelled and exerted parental authority in a very simple manner -- namely, I have more inertia than he does right now. It worked.
The question is, as we undergo our big, rude "switch time," what will the transition in the Anglican Communion lead to? A new day or gloom and doom? Or perhaps, in the crazy, mixed-up world we live in, a bit of each? And who will get the boot, or decide to leave? Or, maybe, it will just be a matter of sheer inertia. . .
Today saw a remarkable report in USA Today (and that's saying something) about our new Presiding Bishop.
Today also saw dark prognosticating about the upcoming Primates Meeting of Doom (the italics are my addition, of course) in the Telegraph, as well as this rather bleak editorial.
Jim Naughton weighs in, as, of course, does Mark Harris. . .twice.
Dawn or doom or both? Take your pick.
Here's a more interesting question: Where do you most see God's grace in all of this?
I'm reminded of my three-year-old son getting up in the middle of the night, coming to our bed, and demanding, "Switch time!" So he could be close to his mother for a few hours. There's only room for two. It always felt like a rude cosmic shift for yours truly, because I always got the boot when this happened. Thankfully, he doesn't do this anymore. I finally rebelled and exerted parental authority in a very simple manner -- namely, I have more inertia than he does right now. It worked.
The question is, as we undergo our big, rude "switch time," what will the transition in the Anglican Communion lead to? A new day or gloom and doom? Or perhaps, in the crazy, mixed-up world we live in, a bit of each? And who will get the boot, or decide to leave? Or, maybe, it will just be a matter of sheer inertia. . .
Today saw a remarkable report in USA Today (and that's saying something) about our new Presiding Bishop.
Today also saw dark prognosticating about the upcoming Primates Meeting of Doom (the italics are my addition, of course) in the Telegraph, as well as this rather bleak editorial.
Jim Naughton weighs in, as, of course, does Mark Harris. . .twice.
Dawn or doom or both? Take your pick.
Here's a more interesting question: Where do you most see God's grace in all of this?
2 comments:
God's grace in the midst of an ecclesiastical mess -- different missions for different parts of the body reaching different people that could not be reached by the other.
Shortly after coming out as a gay man , I began to realize I was sharing my faith with those I would have never met if I had stayed in a "safe" place.
Time for an adventure!
I've heard rumors that folks in Virginia and San Diego were quietly relieved when "reasserter" congregations decided to become part of the Province of Nigeria, or Rwanda, or whatever . . . without continual bickering, both groups could go about the work of mission.
I suspect that will be true of whatever larger ruptures in the
Anglican Communion occur. The grace will be in the new freedom we find to look outward as a church toward the world and its needs, rather than staring at our collective ecclesiastical navel. Still, breaking up is hard to do.
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