And we are adjourned! An abbreviated day today, but very full of gratitude, hope, and a sense of mission.
After worship, we had two long business sessions this morning to try and finish up all the stuff with which we had not yet dealt. We adopted a message from the assembly, and approved several statements and minutes from the Public Issues Committee, on topics such as indigenous peoples and the situation in Abeyi in Sudan. While our time was limited, there was quite a bit of discussion about a statement on the Christian presence and witness in the Middle East. We finished these sessions with many thank yous - to the Korean churches and various host committees, to the stewards and volunteers, to the WCC staff. So many people put a lot of work into this event to make it wonderful - I am sure that they are finding some relief in the midst of their exhaustion right now.
Just on random note - my seat in the business hall was right behind those of the delegates from the Orthodox Church of Finland. One of them took a photo of a vote and lo and behold - here I am on the their church's website! Ecumenism is fun.
Father Michael Lapsley gave us some powerful words in his preaching during the Closing Prayer. He spoke of the importance of listening to each other's pain: "When we are able to listen to each other's pain we can become committed to work together for an inclusive justice. Also when we listen to one another's pain the division between "us" and "them" disappears and we all become just "us". Our experience of a common humanity is profoundly deeper than all that divides us or makes us unique and different." He concluded with words from Benedictine Sr. Ruth Fox, which I have included below.
I do not have the energy nor brain power right now to reflect on my weeks in Busan - what they mean for me, for the PCC, for my place in the Church. Those will come in the next few weeks.
For now, packing, going to touch the ocean (which, despite being right outside my hotel, I have not been near yet), dinner, then on a shuttle bus at 5 am tomorrow to start the long journey back to Canada.
May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.
May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.
May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.
May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.
- Benedictine Sister Ruth Fox, 1985
After worship, we had two long business sessions this morning to try and finish up all the stuff with which we had not yet dealt. We adopted a message from the assembly, and approved several statements and minutes from the Public Issues Committee, on topics such as indigenous peoples and the situation in Abeyi in Sudan. While our time was limited, there was quite a bit of discussion about a statement on the Christian presence and witness in the Middle East. We finished these sessions with many thank yous - to the Korean churches and various host committees, to the stewards and volunteers, to the WCC staff. So many people put a lot of work into this event to make it wonderful - I am sure that they are finding some relief in the midst of their exhaustion right now.
Just on random note - my seat in the business hall was right behind those of the delegates from the Orthodox Church of Finland. One of them took a photo of a vote and lo and behold - here I am on the their church's website! Ecumenism is fun.
Father Michael Lapsley gave us some powerful words in his preaching during the Closing Prayer. He spoke of the importance of listening to each other's pain: "When we are able to listen to each other's pain we can become committed to work together for an inclusive justice. Also when we listen to one another's pain the division between "us" and "them" disappears and we all become just "us". Our experience of a common humanity is profoundly deeper than all that divides us or makes us unique and different." He concluded with words from Benedictine Sr. Ruth Fox, which I have included below.
I do not have the energy nor brain power right now to reflect on my weeks in Busan - what they mean for me, for the PCC, for my place in the Church. Those will come in the next few weeks.
For now, packing, going to touch the ocean (which, despite being right outside my hotel, I have not been near yet), dinner, then on a shuttle bus at 5 am tomorrow to start the long journey back to Canada.
May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.
May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.
May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.
May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.
- Benedictine Sister Ruth Fox, 1985
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