Synod - Day One

Synod for me is like a lot of training events.  In one respect, synod is a friendly environment to discuss a subject matter that is dear to my heart and therefore easy to talk about.  On the other hand, delegates, like conference attendees, often ask pointed questions and challenge the speaker's knowledge or the opinions of others.  It is this second respect which draws out the anxiety in me and probably in a few other speakers. 

I arrived at Trinity College, home of this year's synod around 4:00 on Friday afternoon.  But before I even had time to get worried, I saw a friendly and familiar face.  Before long, there is a wave across the room from a colleague or a nod of acknowledgement from a person I met years ago and developed a comraderie over a crisis.  By the time Friday evening ends, I've reacquainted with several old friends and been introduced to wives and classis delegates with whom I found  encouragement and some safe harbor for a ministry that gets its boat tugged around a bit too hard at times.

Okay, we'll stuff the anxiety for now.  There's plenty of time to be anxious.  When the Bible says not be anxious about anything, had the writer ever had to present at synod?  Unfair question - the writer went through what I haven't gone through and vice versa.  That's how we know God's word is for all times and places.   I tell myself....if he dresses the lillies of the field, I am in good hands. 

I've had my reunions and they are another small reassurance that God keeps his eye on this sparrow.