Morning After

A warm Southern California Saturday morning . . . .

At the end of the last Legislative Session on Friday afternoon I collected my luggage and caught a shuttle back to the airport. On the same minibus was our House of Deputy's Chaplain Frank Wade, of Washington D.C., and his wife Mary. They are both originally from West Virginia, just a short hop from Pittsburgh, and we had a bit of a chat about their memories of coming up to the city for special outings as children. At the airport I rented a car and drove on up to Burbank, where my sister and her family live. I'll be here until Tuesday morning, when I fly to Massachusetts to meet Susy for a few days of R. & R. before heading back home next week.

It will take a while to digest all that has happened over the past couple of weeks. I know I come away from Convention with some real sadness, and with a sense that we of the Episcopal Church are in terra incognita now in many ways. There are lots of predictions suddenly flying around--of amazing, joyful growth and mission about to burst on the scene for us, or of sudden, catastrophic collapse. Either may be true, and we'll all stay tuned. My guess is that the combination of instability and conflict internally and financial weakness will lead probably not to a sudden collapse but to a continuation of erratic decline. It will be uneven: in some places there will be a flourishing of life, in others rapid decompression. Whether there is light at the end of the tunnel is something we can pray about, but I don't think we can see yet for ourselves.

In any case, I would just say that it has been a privilege to serve as a member of the clergy deputation from the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. I entered and continued through this season with some deep prayer, and I made the best effort that I could to make decisions with integrity and seriousness, grounded in faith, hoping to honor our Lord and to act constructively for the wider Episcopal Church and for our diocese. I look back over a few moments, wishing perhaps that I could have been a tad more eloquent in those occasions when I spoke before committees or at the microphone on the floor of Convention. And I recognize that among dear friends some will not agree with every vote I cast. But overall I am content that I've done the best I could do, and we will all of course lift all the work of these days up to God, asking for his continuing perfection of our imperfect offering.

Bruce Robison