Day 3a

I couldn't wait until the end of the day, thus I am posting for day 3a.

Our day began in committee with Bible study for approximately a half-hour. Following this we had open hearings where various people who wanted to speak for or against various overtures that would be coming beforeour committee had that opportunity. It was interesting listening to people's impassioned comments on the various overtures.
We then began  our deliberations as a committee on one of our overtures. This Overture was on affirming the historical use of and continued availability of divestment boycotts and sanctions as a non-violent means of opposing Injustices. This was not speaking to any specific divestment issues. The reason I'm sharing this and not waiting until the end of the day is because I saw, or I should say experienced, God working in discussions of disagreement in love. Near the end of our deliberations the moderator asked if anyone would like to speak for  the overture. I was resisting, but shot my hand up at the last moment. I simply stated that I thought it was an opportunity to reaffirm our use of these methods when we felt appropriate. She  then asked if there was anyone opposed. A lady from South Carolina who was sitting immediately to my right raised her hand. The two of us had been talking and joking and laughing together and enjoying one another's company. As I handed the microphone to her she said softly to me I still love you and then spoke in disagreement to me.
When we voted on the motion to affirm this Overture to the general assembly plenary sessions the vote was in the affirmative. Thus it will be taken up by the general assembly to vote either in agreement or disagreement with our committee. I would reiterate that this is affirming our use of some of those tools, it is not stating a specific case that we will use them. That may be taken up by another committee.
The excitement for me was not in the result of the motion but in the very specific instance of two people who disagreed and yet did so in love. Thanks be to God.