by Murray Barentine
11. April 2010 17:48
Every few years I return to Independence, MO to participate in the Community of Christ world conference experience. It is strange because I am not a big fan of business meetings or meetings in general, yet I find myself drawn here. There is something about gathering in community and experiencing the renewal of friendships and the development of new friendships that is compelling. As I stood back and watched I could see people greeting one another with hugs and laughter, smiles and waves, and what appears to be this great joy and excitement at being in each other’s presence.
Alone with the joy of gathering in community is the joy of experiencing the wonderful singing. Find myself standing quietly listen to the congregation singing rather then singing myself. I stood silent as community shared in song at initial gathering on Saturday evening and as I stood there, I realized that I was being blessed and truly experiencing the Divine Presence at that moment. I had been feed.
Sunday was a long day but a good day. Started with having breakfast with friends and with the combination of great friends, great food, and great conversation is was a wonderful way to start the day. Part of the day was spent talking about Spiritual Formation and the importance of that to us as a community. We had the opportunity to both learn some Spiritual Practices and also to actually try them. Someone pointed out to me how strange the afternoon was as we usually do this type of things in small groups and here we were experiencing this with 2000 or so people.
The day was capped with a worship experience where we learned more about our brothers and sisters in Asia and where the president of the church laid out a compelling vision forward for us as a community. We were reminded of the danger that our issues could overshadow our mission. We were reminded that our mission is to proclaim Jesus Christ. We were reminded that we are faced with two choices. We can move forward or we can turn back!
As Steve shared, my thoughts went to the title of a book I have. Simply stated; If you want to walk on the water, you need to get out of the boat! For me, I felt very much called to get out of the boat.
Together on the Path,
Together on the Journey,
Murray