Day 2, Part 2

After our legislative sessions have ended for the day, I want to reflect a bit on the Traces of the Trade. The movie was somewhat uncomfortable to watch as I'm sure it was intended to be. It is always uncomfortable when someone extends their hand in an earnestly conciliatory gesture and it is rejected, but this happened repeatedly in even the abridged version we saw. It is understandable though when one considers the magnitude of what the attempted apology is for. Put in the position of an African-American in today's still oppressive society, I'm not sure I could accept an apology, either. However, one thing that struck me was when the black producer took the hand of a white descendant of a slave trader and said, roughly, "Yes, I'm angry at 'White People', but when I see you all I see is a good and decent person." If we could step out of 'society' for a moment and recognize our shared humanity, seeing each other in that light might help us to heal our open wounds that we have been so willingly ignoring for most of the last 60 years.


In our afternoon breakout I attended the Resolutions meeting to watch and join the discussion on the resolutions. There were a couple of resolutions from St. Paul's Edenton in support of the Archbishop of Canterbury (standing against the Glasspool election) and in favor of the Anglican Covenant. Those were obviously the resolutions that sparked the most debate. Our standing committee gave consent to Glasspool yesterday which may have mooted one of the resolutions and another pro-LGBT resolution was pulled in light of the Bishops Address.

Happily, a Death Penalty resolution that I am strongly in support of was perhaps made stronger by folks urging us to highlight the immorality and social unacceptability of the Death Penalty rather than highlighting the cost saving benefits. I did not agree that the resolution was highlighting cost-cutting over morality, but I am always in favor of making as unequivocal a stand against the Death Penalty as possible. I sincerely hope the resolution passes.

I am now off to a Service of Reconciliation, again at Christ Church, New Bern. My father will be singing in the service as a member of Schola Cantorum, our Diocesan Choir, and I am very much looking forward to it. Following that, Dinner, a cocktail or two, and a chance to unwind after a surprisingly busy day.


Cheers!