Orientation and Worship and Rules, Oh My!

I said I wanted this blog over the next two weeks to be a reflection of my experiences, I don't want it to be merely a list of what I did (and then I did...and then I did...and so on and so forth).  And yet, as I lay here in my hotel room I'm at a loss.  It was a frustrating day.  Oh don't get me wrong, there were some good parts to it.  I got to spend most of the day with some pretty cool young people who are on our delegation whose joy and dedication give me hope for the state of our church.  Getting to connect with old friends and making new ones was pretty great.  Being with our delegation in person after spending a year of needing to connect with them via video conference call was a breath of fresh air.

The other young adults of the Upper New York delegation at the General Conference young delegate briefing.

However, I still find myself less than encouraged for this General Conference.  Maybe it's because today's main piece of business was considering the rules we will abide by over the next ten days, but as soon as our business began, I could palpably feel a spirit of contention.  Everyone has their own agenda, and in my experience, it's hard to discern the will of the Holy Spirit if you're blinded what you think is best.  And it's hard to love your neighbor if your pre-conceived agenda makes you view them as your enemy.

Another obstacle that the General Conference faces is that we really don't know each other.  People talk about a spirit of contention in Congress, but Congress is decidedly smaller than we are—the House of Representatives is about half the size of us and the Senate is one-eighth of our size—and they get a chance to know each other over two years of work.  864 delegates from all over the world with a vast diversity across just about every form of identity get only 10 days to try and discern what the United Methodist Church will look like for the next four years.  I almost feel like we should be electing our delegates to General/Jurisdictional Conference four years out so we can at least try to get to know each other.  But maybe that would be more trouble than it's worth.

So as I close out tonight, I'm going to offer this prayer that was recited during our opening worship and just happens to be in the front of my personal journal.  It should be familiar to most of you Methodist nerds who are following this blog, but even if you're not a Methodist—or hell, not even a Christian—I still think it's a great prayer to surrender yourself and your ego to a higher power (Christ in a Christian context, obviously):

I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

May it be so.  Amen and amen.