The Urgency of Doing

Leonardo da Vinci  said, “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”

This comes to mind today as I reflect upon events of this past weekend. There were two instances in my life that reflected acting over knowing and one where knowing seemed to be as far as we could go. I’ll elaborate.

The people of St. Mark’s by-the-Lake heeded the yearnings of the Holy Spirit and took action with respect to the growth and development of our parish. (See my last post). It is remarkable how people act when they are “in tune” with the Spirit and Her work among us. Truly wonderful it was, to see that the people of the parish after much discernment and prayer not only came to the knowledge of what needs to be done but began to ACT upon it by committing to a long term plan of sustained growth of the Gospel in this place. Now, we know we have much work left to do and there is a great need for more commitments to come in so that we can take the knowledge of what needs to be done and ACT to make that dream a reality. I am impressed with St. Mark’s Urgency for doing.

I am impressed with Catherinanne and her urgency for doing. As many of you are aware Catherinanne is working away and I have been missing her greatly. She too, had the knowledge of what last weekend was and all of the stress and excitement that came with it. Knowing about it was not enough – she ACTED. That meant a long car ride from Quebec and Bus rides on top of that. It meant being tired and exhausted so that she could be present to me and to a parish community – I am impressed not just with her willingness – but indeed with her ACTING and DOING!

This quote came to mind as well because of The General Synod in Winnipeg.  I must say that I am as confused and bewildered as most at what transpired there over the last two days. On the one hand, the synod acknowledged that The Blessing of Same Sex Unions is not a matter of core doctrine. This was a clear point of clarification after many years of debate and “study” with respect to the issue and what it means for the church. It was a motion that paved the way to ACT. Alas, it was not to be. The “leadership” of the church had different ideas. The bishops are content to know that Gay couples are not in violation of core doctrine as they live in the “sanctity” of their relationships. But the bishops who lead us did not hear the pleading of the spirit that was expressed by the lay delegates and the clerical delegates. There is willingness – but no ACTION. I have no doubt that fear about what would happen to the Worldwide Anglican Communion had a large role to play in the vote from the House of Bishops. I understand fear – indeed we all share some fear of what these decisions mean for us. But fear is a poor motivator in decision making – especially for a people of faith, and especially for Leaders of a faith community. This whole process has left the church in very awkward place and we all now must pray for a way forward.  There will no doubt be many people who live on the polar ends of this issue who are upset and hurt. And indeed, there are so many of us who are confused that knowing did not turn into doing. We will move on and we will ACT. In our communities of faith we all have an overwhelming ability to be the pastoral presence of the Spirit welcoming all persons into our midst and including people fully in our communities. We need to build communities where PEOPLE work together, side by side, even with difference; communities of faith where ACTING is the next logical step from knowing.   I pray that we might all work now towards 2010 in hopes of putting this behind us so that we can continue to ACT in faith on so many other pressing matters that are before the church.  – We need now to focus on BEING the people of God and ACTING as a people of FAITH to dispel fear and darkness. We need to be a justice people seeking to find Christ in all persons – enough talking – I am most impressed with ACTION!