Reflection

I am preparing to put my thoughts and feelings together for a general presentation to the congregation in a couple of weeks.  It is amazing how mixed up things get in your head.  It is hard to remember what happened each day, so I am happy I have this journal  for reference.
I am still very happy with what I saw and did.  Reading peoples ideas about what happened makes me realize why we have the form of government we have.  When that many people gather to discuss, argue, debate, pray and discern a subject...you get the entire range of thinking and you can appreciate every angle of the subject.  It is hard to translate those hours into a few paragraphs of print.  Or even talk.  I am convinced that what has happened will be to the greater good of the larger church.  Some, perhaps a lot of local churches will be unhappy and perhaps it will be enough to make them want to depart from our denomination.  I would never want to hold on to someone who felt I had in some way betrayed their trust.  If people feel that this body of believers have sold them down the garden path, then they have every right to move on to a group who are more aligned with their convictions.  I can only say, that it weakens the entire church when we fight over things that may not be of great importance in the large scheme of things instead of focusing our energy on the big and only important issue.  It is about Jesus...it is about spreading the word and bringing the gift of grace to the entire world.  
I am not 100% pleased with everything we did.  But I know that it was done with the best of intentions and the Holy Spirit was moving through that room.  Perhaps we did not always understand, but I feel like we heard the message.
I hope I can present an emotional and spiritual understanding of GA.  If people need to talk about particular issues, we will form small groups so those concerns may be heard.  There is still much work to do and I hope I can make people eager to go outside our church and be a presence for God.
I know I cannot do justice to the meetings and the whole experience, but I will try.
Shalom