the united methodist church has gathered in tampa, florida for its general conference, which meets every four years. one of the things this means is that the national media pays some attention because they want to report on whatever goes on in the discussion regarding homosexuality. from whati'm reading, that long-unresolved conversation has already begun, as the conference set up what they called "holy conversations" in which small groups of people could sit and discuss this sensitive topic. however, it seems that some of the conversations turned to an opportunity for bullying and name calling, rather than looking for truth, understanding and ways to show love and compassion. as a young(er) methodist, i am so tired of this conversation, and am weary of my tribe (united methodists) being so unwilling to love people. when the culture has done a better job of loving people than the church has, we have a problem. Jesus said that the world would know us by our love, not by our stand on the issues, or on ANYTHING else. just love. and yet we continue to show a 44-year inability to love well when we continue to fight about this issue. i, for one, am so tired of it. the church has WAY bigger issues to deal with, but we can't deal with them when we are so distracted by continuing to pick at this scab rather than let it heal. it is an awkward position to be in when you are disappointed in the denomination that ordained you. i think this blogger got it right.
and so i am praying for all the bishops and delegates and demonstrators today. praying that we can move beyond this disagreement. that we can figure out a way to live beyond our fear and make some decisions based on love for a change. will you pray with me?
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