A glimpse at a bigger picture

The General Convention marathon is pushing toward the finish line — just three more days of legislation to complete our work. These long days of talking and listening are producing some good and thoughtful results. By this time in the life of a convention, the House of Deputies seems hopelessly behind in its schedule of work. We tinker with our rules of order to shave a little time off the deliberations (after all, in a house with more than 800 potential speakers, sometimes it is hard to exercise restraint!)
Yesterday’s calendar included final approval of the carefully-crafted resolution (C025) referred to earlier by Ashley Miller. The bishops had done some thoughtful and helpful editing and returned it to us for one more vote. We also worked through some major changes to Lesser Feasts and Fasts, approving some new commemorations for trial use. This will produce a more wide-ranging calendar with many new choices and defines our criteria for saints more broadly.
One of the most powerful moments for me during the day was just before we were dismissed for the Eucharist when a large group of ecumenical and interfaith dignitaries from the Los Angeles area were brought into the house and introduced. Usually this event offers a few words and a prayer, but this year there was a powerful twist. A Jewish cantor, a Muslim cleric and an Episcopal priest each offered a sung prayer of blessing. Each was a hauntingly beautiful chant from one of the Abrahamic traditions. When each of the three had finished, all of them sang together — a weaving of chant that lifted us into an interfaith experience that no number of spoken words could have done. Our souls were invited into a glimpse of a bigger religious picture.
Most often interfaith conversations reside on the back burner of church business. Yesterday, I was grateful that our interfaith concerns were front and center and drawn so beautifully into prayer.