Preparing a short meditation for the 7pm Lent service of Holy Communion at Seminole Heights United Methodist tonight. I’m reminded of the words of Winston Churchill:
“If you want me to speak for two minutes, it will take me three weeks of preparation. If you want me to speak for thirty minutes, it will take me a week to prepare. If you want me to speak for an hour, I am ready now.”
First, here’s the Taylor Swift original.
And then, to repay the Florida Conference’s own Kylie Foley for her generous donation to the Imagine No Malaria project by the youth group at Seminole Heights United Methodist, here is the “Imagine No Malaria Mix.”
As
the nomination season opens for delegates to the 2016 General Conference of the United Methodist Church, I recall that after many days together in Tampa in 2012, the delegates to that General Conference walked away having changed almost nothing.
It was an opportunity to make changes to our denomination’s alignment that would allow us greater agility to operate more effectively in an age that moves faster, is increasingly global, and is more interconnected than ever before; and the opportunity was lost.
There was also an opportunity to make a statement about our belief that, while we don’t always agree on how to respond to every issue of our day, we are at our best when we remain committed to our connection as United Methodists; and that opportunity passed us by as well.
I will be praying for those considering becoming a candidate for election to represent us from all over the world at General Conference, that they will walk away this time not having missed opportunities, but seized them.
Matt Horan