drop the rope!

For God's sake!

For the sake of Jesus!

For the sake of the Holy Spirit!

For the sake of the old women and men on the back pew!

For the sake of the middle aged men and women around the coffee pot!

For the sake of our babies, and youth

and what young adults we do have...

For the sake of...

past members,

present members,

potential members!

Can we do what it takes to put down the rope!

Can we end this incessant tug of war of words!

Can we move on to the dessert now!

Is it too much to ask that

I be allowed to sit

on the corner of your blanket

and share a meal.

Is it too much to ask that

you come sit

on the corner of my blanket

and share a meal.

Is it possible for your side

and my side....

to remember

we are on the same side?

I suppose if we can't put

down the rope....

I suppose if we are unable

to stop the tug of war

and enjoy the freshly churned ice cream...

I suppose if we are so

hard headed not to re-claim

our common identity and calling....

Then we will just keep pulling on the

rope till it breaks and both sides

fall to the ground hurt and exhausted.

I don't think that is what God intended.

But....

this seems to be

what we are intent on doing.

Don't get me wrong...

I am not without

opinions and perspectives...

I have personality with both

strengths and weaknesses...

I have particular hopes for the

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)!

I also know that we may well

be learning yet again....

if we haven't already learned the lesson....

that it is not possible for

humans to agree to disagree

no matter how many times

we say that it is possible.

At least for those of us in the

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Or is it?

Maybe the rope

has already broken

and our picnic potluck

now has two lines

and we are already

sitting on opposite sides

of the park.

Maybe there is no more rope

to hold us together.

Maybe the 219th General Assembly

and all the Presbytery Meetings

in the coming year

will tell the story

of what's left

of our picnic.