UMNS photo by Paul Jeffrey
Guaranteed Appointment Vote
Bishop Minerva Carcaño presides over a May 1 session of the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Florida, when a vote to reconsider abolition of guaranteed clergy appointments was defeated. The results are displayed on a screen behind her.
Sixty percent is a supermajority,
who took time out of their busy schedules,
who needed to make a statement,
who wanted to leave a legacy,
who knew exactly how and where the lines should be drawn.
So much good could be done with sixty percent:
sixty percent whose lives say Jesus,
sixty percent who love mercy most,
sixty percent who give ten percent,
out of which ninety percent goes to the ones who cannot repay.
Imagine if sixty percent came every Sunday,
if sixty percent were eager to help,
if sixty percent spent all of their efforts
searching for people who needed a hug.
What if God had sixty percent
whose greatest concern was chasing down the other forty,
who wanted love to always be the last word,
who could breathe only peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control?
What if sixty percent chose beauty to be their power?