What would it take?

Years ago I was the pastor of a congregation in northern Illinois.  The staff consisted of myself, a full-time administrative assistant, a part-time Associate Pastor, a part-time Director of Music, a part-time organist, and a part-time custodian.  To say that we were a "diverse" staff is an understatement!  We were male and female, younger and older, from very different socio-economic backgrounds, from different family configurations, and with different theological viewpoints.  It was WORK to be Head of Staff there, but we managed to work well together and have a lot of fun at the same time!

I remember one afternoon when we were beginning a staff meeting.  Someone had led our opening time of devotions and prayer, and we were beginning to go through the coming month's calendar.  Someone had mentioned something about TV ads, and we began reminiscing about old ads we'd all seen when we were younger.  Suddenly, our choir director, who was theologically and politically the most conservative of us by far, said, "I remember all the cigarette ads that used to be on TV, and it seemed that everyone on TV shows smoked.  And now... Well, within less than a generation, our whole society has turned things around and made smoking socially unacceptable in most places.  I wonder why we can't do that about handguns?  What would it take for our society to simply decide that handgun ownership was just unacceptable?"  We were all stunned to silence.

Since I'm writing about this now, you can tell that her question has stayed with me these past twenty-or-so years.  And what has stayed with me is not just her question about handguns.  What would it take for us to make political rancor that paralyzes effective governing absolutely unacceptable in our society?  How about bullying?  Sexually inappropriate comments or jokes?  Racism?  An ever-deepening economic divide?  Religious fundamentalism that is rigidly intolerant?  The turn-around that is needed to care for our environment?  What would it take?

What would it take for us within our Presbytery to be able to move beyond the hurts, mistakes, broken trust and broken relationships that many have experienced in the past?  I don't mean that we should just adopt Bobby McFerrin's carefree philosophy from his 1988 song, "Don't Worry, Be Happy!"  We need to fully recognize our heritage - both the richness and the brokenness.  We acknowledge our commonality as sisters and brothers in Jesus our Lord.  We make the decision to move into a new future together.  What would it take?

This morning's closing collect in the Service of Morning Prayer went like this:

As you cause the sun to rise, O God, bring the light of Christ to dawn in our souls and dispel all darkness. Give us grace to reflect Christ's glory; and let his love show in our deeds, his peace shine in our words, and his healing in our touch, that all may give him praise, now and forever.  Amen.

I pray that as we continue to grow and share and learn to move into new ways of being as a Presbytery, that we all might, indeed, "reflect Christ's glory, (letting) his love show in our deeds, his peace shine in our words, and his healing in our touch."

Can I get an "Amen?"