I received a gracious letter from Rev. Dave Treat (see elsewhere, this week's edition of the newsletter) who spoke almost poetically on the beauty of our connection.   A woman came to the hospice facility in Graham, Texas, where he works asking if ANYthing could be done to help her daughter whose handicapping condition made it difficult for her to get in/out of her house in Denton.   Dave picked up the phone and called me, explaining this woman’s plight. Dave did not know me nor I, him, but he knew he could call another Elder in another United Methodist Church to get help when help was needed.   I called Kent Carpenter, one of our Mission Co-Chairs who said, “Sure.” Kent called his dad, John; and together they went and finished out a much needed handicap-accessible ramp to the home where the daughter lives. It was a chain of connection pulled by grace in response for the need of light to shine in someone’s darkness.     

 

The ultimate gathering of our United Methodist connection began with unbelievably glorious worship on Wednesday, April 23, and will not conclude until the closing worship service on Friday, May 2. There remains daily opportunity this week to travel to Ft. Worth and experience our connection in action. There is room aplenty in the gallery – balcony seats – of the Ft. Worth Coliseum’s floor where the “action” is happening. It will not happen again in our area in most of our lifetimes.   Prayer, discussion, debate and decision-making mark the days; worship punctuates at different times the entire proceedings. Our warts will appear as we remain a human institution seeking to do God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. But sometimes we get it right, too. 

 

Differing in scale, General Conference remains a chain of connection pulled by grace in response for the need to shine light in someone’s darkness.   In Denton, I am proud to be connected to a church that inspires me as it seeks ever new ways to shine that light of Christ’s love into the lives of people around us; it is a great treasure indeed.