Our contemporary United Methodist Church has been described as - "an enigma wrapped in a conundrum." We hear that the structure has become so overborne with bureaucratic "stuff", that it no longer resembles the vibrant movement begun by Wesley and others in the 1700's.
It is as if we are lost in a maze of our own making.
I heard one delegate say that they felt they were lost in the labyrinthine moves driven by political whim and power politics. I believe that the delegate used the wrong adjective when describing the moves they experienced.
To be sure, what most of us heard (or saw) happening at the recent General Conference in Tampa, seemed to be anything but the intended "holy conversation" on a global scale.
Would you consider the following supposition?
We were not caught in a maze - with its twists, turns, and dark alleys leading to nowhere.
We were lost in a labyrinth.
A labyrinth, unlike a maze, has a beginning and an end. You actually walk toward a goal, and then return to the beginning. With its twists and turns, sometimes we walk alongside our fellow pilgrim, and at times we walk in opposing directions. Often, we focus so much on the path that we fail to see our brothers or sisters who walk with us. But, we are all pursuing the same goal. Some walk faster than others. Some take the intended meditation time to reflect on the moment and those walking the path with them. Others seem to want to "get it over with" and move on toward some newer experience.
If we are lost, it is because we have forgotten that the path leads us in one direction, toward one goal, but at radically different paces.
Maybe it is time that we slowed down a bit on our walk and realized our fellow pilgrims on the path. I believe that you will find in them a wondrous variety within its path. I also believe that there is another walking with us who weeps when seeing our failure to recognize the gifts of other pilgrims travelling with us, or our willingness to point others outside the path because they are in our way.
On the intended labyrinth path, there are no dead ends - only the journey with God as we reach for the center, and return to the beginning to carry the lessons learned on the walk with us in our journey of faith. Come, let us walk together, even in our disagreements, we can find God's purpose for our denomination - and hopefully the world as well.
- Brother Simeon, still looking for someone to walk with me while we together search for bread.
A labyrinth, unlike a maze, has a beginning and an end. You actually walk toward a goal, and then return to the beginning. With its twists and turns, sometimes we walk alongside our fellow pilgrim, and at times we walk in opposing directions. Often, we focus so much on the path that we fail to see our brothers or sisters who walk with us. But, we are all pursuing the same goal. Some walk faster than others. Some take the intended meditation time to reflect on the moment and those walking the path with them. Others seem to want to "get it over with" and move on toward some newer experience.
If we are lost, it is because we have forgotten that the path leads us in one direction, toward one goal, but at radically different paces.
Maybe it is time that we slowed down a bit on our walk and realized our fellow pilgrims on the path. I believe that you will find in them a wondrous variety within its path. I also believe that there is another walking with us who weeps when seeing our failure to recognize the gifts of other pilgrims travelling with us, or our willingness to point others outside the path because they are in our way.
On the intended labyrinth path, there are no dead ends - only the journey with God as we reach for the center, and return to the beginning to carry the lessons learned on the walk with us in our journey of faith. Come, let us walk together, even in our disagreements, we can find God's purpose for our denomination - and hopefully the world as well.
- Brother Simeon, still looking for someone to walk with me while we together search for bread.
