[RMC News] [2008 General Conference News] Delegate Reflection April 27th Gheeta Smith

[Strickland, Skip]

[2008 General Conference News] Delegate Reflection April 27 Gheeta Smith


The following remarks are written by Reserve Delegate, Gheeta Smith, a young lay woman from Hill Top UMC, in Salt Lake City .  Gheeta reflects from Fort Worth, Texas as she is attending the 2008 General Conference:

Friends,

There must have been some divine guidance in the
prayer by Bonhoeffer that I selected for this day.  I
had chosen it at random about 2 weeks ago and I
wondered if the words would seem too harsh for
inspiration once we arrived at General
Conference--after all, we'd been exhorted to be in an
attitude of Holy Conferencing.  I didn't realize how
naive  and idealistic I was about the personal and
corporate agendas of other individuals and
delegations.

As a Lay Reserve Delegate to Jurisdictional
Conference, I am attending General Conference as one
who's role in Legislative committee meetings is to be
a "silent observer."  (Those of you who know me are
probably chuckling already, for on subjects about
which I am especially passionate I tend to be neither
silent, nor strictly an observer.)  I have been set to
monitor the proceedings of the "Others" Legislative
Subcommittee on Church and Society 2.  In other words,
our committee was a catch-all for must of the
"less-polarizing" petitions regarding subjects such as
human rights, women's rights, immigration, healthcare
(universal, USA, and specific to the UMC), Native
American Rights, and other issues specifically dealing
with the Social Principles and the Social Creed of the
UMC.

I had no idea how difficult it would be to sit on my
hands and trust that God's will would play out on many
of these discussions.  The voting committee itself
appeared on the outside to be pretty diverse: 2 white
men from the US and 1 from the Central Conferences, 2
white women from the US, 1 African American, 2 African
women, 1 African man.   Unfortunately, as the process
of legislation ensued it became apparent that personal
agendas, and conscious or unconscious acts of racial
and gender prejudice were occurring at the very table
where we were to address these issues.

At times it became very difficult to remain a silent
observer at the table.  This  enforced
voicelessness--despite my desire to stand up, share my
knowledge, and bear verbal witness to issues weighing
on my heart--forced me to sympathize with our many
brothers and sisters who for various reasons are
disenfranchised, or even completely disallowed a place
at the table.  There have been several times over the
past 36 hours that this realization has threatened to
completely overwhelm me, and it was especially at
these times that I was thankful for the words of
Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

I Cannot Do This Alone

O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
And to concentrate my thoughts on you:
I cannot do this alone.
In me there is darkness,
But with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not leave me;
I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is
patience;
I do not understand your ways,
But you know the way for me

Restore me to liberty,
And enable me to live now
That I may answer before you and before me.
Lord, whatever this day may bring,
Your name be praised.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Though I will head home on Monday afternoon I will do
my best to remain present in prayer with my fellow
delegates and friends who'll remain i Texas for
several more days.  I invite you, our friends and
cheerleaders in and around the Rocky Mountain
Conference, to continue the race with us in prayer
together.

Blessings,
Gheeta Smith
Lay Reserve to Jurisdictional Conference 
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