The opening session this evening was packed with fantastic content. Musical performances ranged from Gospel to Classical, Folk and Jazz. Barbara Brown Taylor opened with an incredible message that oriented us to life here in the south. She described the south as being Christ haunted, war haunted and slavery haunted! She accurately described the south, and this entire country by saying there are a whole lot more people who “love” the Bible than people who actually know what’s in it! As interpreters of scripture we preachers need to embrace the incredible plurality of meaning in God’s word. Ultimately the Bible captivates us because it is a book for losers, and is most definitely big enough to accomodate an entire world of losers! Bottom line is, it belongs to everyone. Thank you Barbara!!!
After some more musical selections the keynote speaker, non other than Archbishop Desmond Tutu, took the pulpit and shared the overwhelming good news that while arbitrary color distinctions, racism, injustice and bigotry are rampant, they have no lasting power over us. We are each created in the image of God and are called to become what we are! Specifically, we have died with Christ, we are risen, ascended, and now sitting at the right hand of God Almighty. And it is all because God loves each and every one of us. Not because we are inherently lovable, but rather we are lovable because God has chosen to love us. Archbishop Tutu moved us from hilarious tears of laughter to tears of deep sorrow and ultimately to tears of joy in the period of less than an hour! Wow!!!
