". . . for in every way you have been enriched in him . . ." (1 Cor. 1:5)
I have been richly blessed.
I recently returned from a week-long conference at Presbyterian Mo Ranch Conference Center, on the banks of the Guadalupe River in the heart of the astounding beauty of the Texas hill country. I was there with 32 other pastors from within our denomination, serving churches from Massachusetts to Alaska. We had all been invited by the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to take part in this special opportunity to examine significant areas of our lives and to discern prayerfully the future direction of our vocation as we respond to God's call in a lifelong process of practice and transformation. The conference was called "Credo," which is a Latin word meaning "I believe" . . . or, at a deeper level, "I give my heart." Basically, the conference intended to enrich our lives in deep and profound ways, so that we might be able to sustain ourselves in ministry more effectively for the long haul and so that our lives might become more of a blessing to the people in the congregations we serve.
It worked.
I cannot begin to describe how powerful this experience was. I never imagined how deeply enriching it would be. One of my colleagues wrote a beautiful poem about the blessings she received during the week, and shared it with the rest of us on our last night together. Another of my colleagues said, "I think coming to this conference has saved my marriage." I said to one of the conference leaders, "I hope you all get as much out of this conference as we pastors do." She replied, "Oh, yes. This is an incredible gift to all of us." I nodded and said, "This week is such an amazing week." Without pausing even for a moment, she smiled and said, "You all are worth it."
Wow. That was humbling.
The conference focused on four areas of our lives: personal finances, health, spirituality, and vocation. Prior to the conference we had been asked to do quite a bit of homework (study and reflection) in each of those four areas. Once at the conference, we spent significant time in plenary sessions and workshops focused on each of those four areas, and were given ample opportunity to have individual consultations with the members of the faculty. The week was bathed with daily worship services (sometimes twice a day) filled with a broad range of Spirit-filled music, uplifting prayers, penetrating scripture readings, and outstanding messages; fellowship in the dining hall with people who started out as strangers and who became friends; deep reflection and rich conversation in small groups; and even fun and games. (Yes, it's true, I did come home with some minor injuries, sustained during a relay game. But I was having fun when it happened!) The week was bathed with laughter and joy - and, at times, some heart-rending, gut-wrenching tears. All in all, an incredibly powerful experience in which people deeply felt the amazing grace of God, the demanding call of Jesus Christ, and the ever-present movement of the Holy Spirit in our midst. I have returned home refreshed, renewed, rejuvenated . . . and, I think, with a spring in my step and a joy in my heart that weren't there before. At least, they weren't there to the extent they are now.
There were numerous times during the week when I thought to myself, "Wow. This is such a life-giving experience. How can I take what I am experiencing here back home to help the good people in Mason? How can individual congregations do the kinds of things for people in our midst that this conference did for those of us who attended it?" For we didn't just skim the surface. This was not just some great week away that leaves you returning home just the way you were. No, on the contrary, this was an experience that has the potential to powerfully and positively shape the entire rest of our lives and the whole way in which we go about doing ministry. If I seem different in any way as a result of attending this conference . . . well, it's probably because I am different.
The over-arching goal of the week was to help us develop our own "Credo Plan." Looking at the whole of our life, what are the three very significant things that God is calling us to do with our lives, right here and right now, given the variety of circumstances we are experiencing in both our personal and professional lives? We were given ample instruction about how to develop such a plan. Then we were given an afternoon and a morning to work on it. Everything needed to be completed and printed by Sunday afternoon at 1:30pm. Then we would be given an opportunity to share a summary of our plan with the whole group, and then we would participate in a worship service in which we would dedicate our plans to the Lord. It all sounded relatively straightforward and do-able . . . until I got stuck.
Sunday morning rolled around and I started to get nervous. It just wasn't coming together. I was having trouble combining everything that I had learned, discovered, experienced, thought about, and prayed about during the week into one coherent whole. I also received a message Sunday morning that both excited me and made me nervous, at the same time. I had about three hours left . . . and I was starting to panic.
It was then that I heard a voice. There was not a soul around me in the lobby of the lodge where I was working, but I distinctly heard a voice. Mind you, I am not a candidate for a mental hospital. I don't usually hear voices in my head. In fact, I cannot recall a time in my life when I have ever heard a voice in my head as clearly as I heard this voice. One sentence, spoken to me as clear as crystal: "Bill, you need to go run."
"Say what?" I thought in reply.
"You need to go run," said the voice.
"I don't have time to run! I've got to get this project done. I'm injured; I'm sore; my tailbone hurts."
"Trust me," said the voice. "You need to go run. You don't need to go far. Just go run across that big bridge and up the big hill on the other side. Just put on your shoes and go." I dropped everything, dashed to my room, changed into my running gear, and out the door I went. Across the big bridge and up the big hill. I had run that direction once before, but it was dark then. Now, it was broad daylight. Coming up the hill, there was a stone open-air chapel on my right . . . and a great big huge cross overlooking the valley below . . . hawks circling around, above and below me . . . nobody else anywhere in sight. Breathtaking.
I stopped. I spent the next 30 minutes walking on the stone perimeter of the central area in the open-air chapel, talking and listening. I talked a lot. I listened a lot. I heard a lot. Everything crystallized with a simple clarity, and clear affirmation of what I needed to do with my assignment. Then came the voice again. "Okay, Bill. You've got this. Now go run back down that hill." And so I did. I ran back down the hill, across the bridge, and back to the lodge. I sat down outside on the balcony outside my room, pulled out my laptop, and cranked out that assignment with energy and vigor and excitement and resolve.
Am I crazy? I sincerely don't think so. I think - no, I know - that I heard God talking to me. To me. Directly. As if my whole life and ministry depended on it.
Maybe it did.
What I learned that day - that week - has powerful and profound implications for my life. And, therefore, for your life. Trust me; it's all good. It's all really, really good. In the weeks and months to come, I am going to be trying to diligently apply what I learned and experienced down there in my daily life and ministry here. I have been richly blessed. And if I do what I know I need to do, you will be richly bessed too.
Trust me. It's all good. it's all really, really good.
Peace and blessings,
Bill
