It?

This week I will be one of three keynote speakers at the Diocesan clergy conference. As quickly as I hear people saying, “what an honour…” I think, “life would have been less complex without the honour.” Before you start feeling sorry for me though, think about what the other clergy in the diocese have to go through – listening to me. All the speakers are clergy and are from our diocese and I’m sure the planners of the conference thought, “why bring in a speaker when we have perfectly good speakers right here among us?” The fact that the three of us are way, way cheaper than bringing in someone had no part in their decision. Okay, so that’s enough of my insecurities… on with the show!

The topic I was given is, “Just go do it.” Awfully close to a sneaker ad for sure, but I won’t be asking people to buy footwear. Lots of things come to mind, that I could talk about. And I have been given over an hour, so I have to fill up a lot space. But then it occurred to me, I have to figure out what the “it” is in, “Just go do it.”

The “It” for clergy is love. In a way, that’s what our ordination vows are all about. The bishop says, in the Ordination service for a priest, “You are to love and serve the people among whom you work, caring alike for young and old, strong and weak, rich and poor.” And for the Ordination of a deacon, the bishop says, “You are to make Christ and his redemptive love known, by your word and example, to those among whom you live and work and worship.”

So, if by God’s grace I am able to communicate and inspire my fellow clergy, I pray that it be – to love.