daily life as life goes on . . .

I’ve been sitting at home preparing for my July adventure!  I’ve been asked to moderate the Assembly of our denomination – to take place in Winnipeg.

The last Assembly, two years ago, was described as business lite.  The moderator felt there was not much to do, and what was done, was done decently and in order.

Which is exactly what Robert’s rules are about.  We follow ways in which people can discuss issues and make a decision. 

Might be interesting this time around.  We will be voting on a president and the contentious issue of ordination of women will probably arise. 

Should by interesting – which means I’d better be prepared!

How’s this for an unknown, or unknowable quote!

It’s impossible to prove that something has no effect  – Professor Malcolm Sperrin

Taken from a BBC report of Monday, 21 May 2007, 10:58 – Wifi health fears are unproven.

With quotes like this, I’m not sure what you can prove!!

What a fun conversation!

Our church has a flat roof leak.  Not unlike a million other steel buildings with flat roofs.  Was it an original design flaw (our building and a myriad others in the area all started with leaks)?  Was it a lack of proper maintenance (something most of us have never heard of – the idea of a steel roof was that it would remain permanent over time)?  Was it the wind and weathering of the prairies (that one explains old wrinkled prairie-ites gazing at the roof thinking weather could never affect steel, as though ageing never affects us)?

Well, at the table we let the imagination go.

Why worry about fixing the current roof.  Just build over top.  Maybe put a garden up there to absorb water.  How about a roof that has great design patterns that invite conversation.  Maybe use a dome to cover the whole building.

By the time a few minutes passed I was into all sorts of options.  How do you think we could fix a flat roof leak?

In the last few days I’ve been impressed by the depressing action of those who are low on forgiveness and high on condemnation.  People’s lives and loves can be broken by not being able to forgive, which results in separation and all that entails.  There is no grace!

So, divorce can cause bankruptcy, family relationships can be ruptured, a simple disagreement rises to block the sun. 

Many years ago I sat in a lecture series by a leading academic.  We spent the better part of hours looking at, dissecting and reassembling the word “grace”.  At the time I thought a dictionary definition, those one or two sentences, would have been sufficient.

I’m coming to wonder!  Wonder that people can be less than graceful.  Wonder that those definitions just scratch the itch.  Wonder that the complexity of human life can miss such a simple explosive truth.

As I watch the lives around me, grace is taking on the picture of a rope tossed to drowning people.  Those thrashing in the waters of bitterness are so busy trying to strengthen their swimming skills so they don’t drown, they fail to see that they could just grab the rope and be lifted out of the water.  But, of course, grabbing the rope means leaving behind all the great survival exercises they have learned, and instead learning one exercise, that of merely grabbing, trusting and hanging on for dear life!

What pictures of grace do you see?