Day 7

REFLECTION:

A few tests for whether I am being guided by the Spirit:

• I’m being led in a direction very different from what I was raised to believe.
• I’m being led in a direction that would put me at odds with people whose affirmation means a lot to me.
• I’m being led in a direction opposed to my secular political leanings.
• I did not come to this conclusion easily.
• It did not require me to sing Kum-ba-yah

The presence of any, or even all, of these elements does not mean that I am being led by the Spirit. It could simply demonstrate a spirit of rebelliousness that is not of God. The spirit is consistent in where it leads us, I believe. Where our past has been effectively and fully guided by the Spirit, turning against it represents no act of faithfulness.

The absence of any, or even all, of these elements does not mean that I’m not being led by the Spirit. However, it should give me pause to consider whether I might simply be following the biases of my upbringing, my social circles, and my political party affiliation. It’s not so much that the Spirit changes where it leads humans (at least in broad senses) at different times in history, but that we have more of our biases exposed so that they no longer masquerade as absolute truth and the Spirit of Truth can be heard more clearly.

Long Meetings...

The motion to reconsider a motion that has already been passed. WOW! What a headache! Just when you think an item has been put to rest, you can find there’s almost no limit to how long a body of almost 1000 people can spend trying to tweak it in one direction or another. One blogger referred to it as the hokey-pokey. You put the motion in, you put take the motion out…

I think I’ve had a taste of what it feels like to be A.D.D. Any time we have breaks, I find myself swaying from side to side or pacing. This whole evening I’ve done my share of pacing or mentally checking out. Once again, the challenge is great on the commissioners. The meeting ended tonight at 11:00 p.m.

Positively, people are working through differences in fair, open ways. While there are obviously politics as work, I sense no effort by the leadership on stage (stated clerk, moderator, etc.) to manipulate the process.