by Susan Langle...

“It is by prayer that we walk in the balance” When we are weary. When we are ready to begin, or longing to take our leave or moving into difficult waters, and the President of the House of Deputies calls forward our Chaplain. Deputy Eaton, a priest in Navajoland Area Mission, begins her prayers with images on the Jumbotron – the desert; blue sky; the ocean; a river at sunset. And she reminds us that we need prayer to hold us upright. We need prayer to keep walking in the difficult places. We need prayer to stay steady. We yearn to walk in the balance, and so we pray.

“Love is intangible and unstoppable” In three ballrooms put together hundreds of chairs filled with people. L sat with the other members of the Prayer book Liturgy and Church Music Committee listening to those who signed the long list to offer brief remarks on the resolution and liturgies of Blessing for same gender couples. As I sat facing the crowd and attending the 40 or so speakers who came one by one to the microphones, I kept watching a group of visitors, high school students sitting in the first row a few feet in front of me. They were totally engaged in the process of the Church being the Church. After the hearing was over I went to hear what they had to say. They come from Michigan with some pretty cool adults. They are each articulate, eager and they are filled with the power of the Spirit. “Isn’t it discrimination to withhold this blessing?” “Why do people care who others love?” Love gets the final word. The Love at the heart of the Universe. That Love is unstoppable.

“If the horse is dead, dismount” We can’t help it. We debate. We amend. We discuss. We perfect. We listen and talk and talk and talk. The Word made flesh. Words from different perspectives, from so many different contexts and perspectives are offered with courage, and heard with patience. So many words. But as Deputy Freeman from North Carolina reminded my committee with humor and wisdom, sometimes we need to just get on with it.