seeing

so today i was at the fulcrum conference. the idea for this day formed really out of our responses to the neac last november. it's no secret that that particular meeting did not go well. the divisions that define us in really unhelpful ways were crystal clear there. excruciatingly so.

so today was about saying 'no' to that. saying 'no' to the division that tears us apart, and 'yes' to facing each other.

so i have to tell you about hugh palmer. hugh is on the council of reform. he's the rector of all souls', langham place. if you're into 'tick box' christianity, then he ticks every box of the conservative evangelical and pushes all the buttons in me that most would do well not to push.

and today i saw him. really saw him, i mean, and he blessed my heart.

it's easy not to see those we disagree with, especially if we've never met them. if we know that they belong to this or that group. we assign mental labels, or raise shields that stop us from getting hurt, but also stop us from being able to see past them, to see that who we are hiding from isn't who we thought after all.

we tried not to paper over the cracks, you know. there's no point in saying the divisions are not really all that bad. to not acknowledge the very real pain that has been, that there still is. but we did begin a conversation.

i learnt again today that i still have hope and that grace abounds.