General Convention 2018

7 July 2018 Austin TX Saturday night in the South and young women parade the streets dressed as though they could be Fox News anchors. There are things about this town that are obviously modern–a tech city "on the build" has erected structures in their skyline which say 21-st Century loudly, blatantly. Other symbols seem to hearken to the past, whether intentional or unintentional. There is no doubt, though, that this city has charm running through its veins, and, without realizing it fully, has managed, simply by being itself, to ooze originality from its pores. "Keep Austin weird" seems as much an unneeded aphorism as "first pants then shoes" would be. Could Austin be any other way than it is? I doubt it. And these days, the throngs walking to the Convention Center from the Marriott and back in their priestly collars, crosiers, purple bishop shirts...in their tie-dye, Navajo tribal colors, their blinged-out name badges, their rainbow flags...they are talking sections and subsections, resolution numbers and rules of order. They are name-dropping, summing each other up, eager to know our Episcopalianism as a whole, their eyes signaling that their souls are inquisitive and open. It is a truly special crowd that walks these short two blocks. Not special in that many are extraordinary, but special in the way that they are all unique and so very fervent about worshiping their God, in their own individual ways, while holding hands together and refusing to let go. These people are the church. They are my church. The Legislative Sessions would be long if it were not for the high drama on the cavernous convention center floor. As the President calls upon them with words that hearken back to an earlier time ("the floor recognizes delegate so-and.so"), the response also cutely precious in its response of "thank you Madame President, I rise in support of this or that amendment". Truth be told, the whole thing is quite a spectacle, but in a format that is more real than reality TV. This is so real that it is a happening which is actually LIVE, something so rarified in this 2018, this time of realities virtual, in all its digital forms. The digital world tries so very hard to be what it can never be: real life. And we get to be in its technicolor midst for 10 whole days this Summer in Texas! And, amongst the many tediums of the show, as people jockey and nit-pick their way through the resolutions, their intentions begin to, through the hive mind, become less and less intense, more and more less of meaning, the governance sucking the realness out of the Urtext. What was sometimes intended to be a powerful statement of a raw human battlecry becomes limp as it is whittled away at, leaving its progeny, the offspring of the original idea, a lifeless statement indeed. And the irony is not lost on you, I assume, that a show such as this which epitomizes something so real, can produce something that does not resemble the life that created it whatsoever. How does toothless amended resolution of the Genereal Convention of the Episcopal Church get born? Like this. And another one bites the dust. World without end. Considering it all, I wonder what it is exactly that is so awe-inspiring about the grand event. I tend to think that the heart-filled intentions of my compatriots, their immeasurable life-energies zooming around the goings on here, are keeping me alive. Here, I only need 5 hours of sleep a night in order to feel refreshed. Here, I feel enlivened to the point of bursting at times. Here, I seem more than myself, more than a mere human. How is this possible? Is it us? Are we perpetuating this life-force that seems to reverberate amongst us? That is indeed possible, methinks. Or! Or, dare I say it, is the Holy Spirit truly amongst us? Is the Spirit facilitating our efforts together? Can it be that the Holy Spirit is amongst a bunch of Episcopalians? I think it may very well be so. I believe it is so.