And I'm back

Ponderous Thoughts “Lament is the mother of hope.” --Rev. Dr. Timothy Tennent Another Annual Conference has come to an end and I am glad to be back home! I am not going to give you a full report on conference this week, but I do want to tell you about my favorite parts of the week. I love having the opportunity to catch up with old and new friends. Some of us only get together at conference events, so we only see each other a couple of times each year. Ben and I have a group of people that go to a movie one night each year during conference…except we didn’t make it this year. I always enjoy the service of commissioning and ordination. I always have at least one or two friends who are being recognized this way. This year, my friend Carolyn Roy was ordained. In fact, the best part of conference was the sermon at that worship service, given by the Rev. Dr. Timothy Tennent, from Asbury Theological Seminary. He spoke to the ordinands and to all of us, calling us to leadership for Christ and to hope, instead of fear. The full quote I referred to above says, “I’m not lamenting that we are in a time of lament. It is always a time of hope! Lament is the mother of hope.” While food prices rise and gas prices fluctuate and the economy’s invisible recovery continues, it is tempting to spend our time and energy in lament. Dr. Tennent’s reminder that we as the people of God are a people of hope was an extremely encouraging word. I only wish we had been able to hear it at the beginning of conference, instead of at the end. I think it might have changed our whole time there for the better.