Day 12--Two Moving Moments

Much cooler weather today, after thunderstorms last night, so everyone is in a much better mood. The first moving moment came this morning as both bishops and spouses met together to do a Bible study related to the abuse of women and children in the church. It was the story of the rape of Tamar in II Samuel. The men sat on one side of the tent, the women on the other, so we could discuss it safely. We began with a very moving play about Jesus' healing of women, and then broke up into smaller groups to discuss the questions it raised. The interchanges were very intense. It was noticed that during the morning over 100 of the men left the venue, while not a single woman did. This exercised raised my consciousness on this topic and prompted me to think of more ways this topic could be covered in church, where it certainly goes on, but is almost never mentioned. The other moving moment came this evening as the Archbishop gave an stunning speech on how we could better listen to one another with generosity and "speak life to one another." I don't think the text has been posted yet, but it is certainly worth reading in full. Meanwhile, as we try to work out our disagreements, I came across a quote from another (former) Archbishop of Canterbury on the nature of Anglicanism. A generation ago Michael Ramsey wrote: "Anglicanism is not a system or a Confession but a method, a use, a direction so that its greatest credentials are its incompleteness, with tension and travail in its soul. It is clumsy and untidy; it baffles neatness and logic. For it is sent not to commend itself as the best type of Christianity, but by its very brokenness to point to the universal Church wherein all have died." Tomorrow we talk about different ways to approach Scripture...should be interesting!