Michael Jagessar, Moderator of URC General Assembly, has written the following inspiring and very clever bit of prose. The question when you read this prose is whether you are a glass half full, or glass half empty person, and how we 'read things' (like statistics etc). So read it from the top, and see how you feel, and then from below/bottom up and notice how different the message is - even though the words are the same.
This is what he wrote:
we are part of a dying church
so I refuse to believe
we are changing... we are blessed
I realize this may be a shock but
'change comes from below'
is a scandal, and
'the poor will always be with us'
so in 5 years I will tell my Elders
we can be a church without them
synods will know that
it cannot be business as usual
we are not alone
I tell you this
people of faith will con-spire together
10 years down the road
we will mark the demise of the URC.
I, therefore, do not conclude that
we will be part of vibrant community of faith
in the future
a lukewarm faith will be the norm
no longer will it be said that
we continue to discern God's purpose for us.
it will be evident that
we have lost the plot.
it is foolish to presume that
there is hope.
What a difference if you start at the bottom and work up rather than the more usual top down approach!
(Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net)
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