A fellow member recently asked me a series of questions, on the OWL site – posed as if God were searching my heart.

Humility? Yes, I often feel very humble in having been accepted into God’s Church, by the congregation.

Concern? Yes, I am genuinely concerned that Christ daily challenges us to look inside ourselves, for the truth. Yet, as a congregation, we often feel inhibited in saying what is truly in our hearts – possibly afraid the congregation may turn away from us.

Peace? Yes, I wish all within the community of the Church, the peace of the Lord that passes all human understanding. This promise made within God’s sanctuary, the Church, at the end of each Sunday morning Service.

Love? John 13:34-35 – (34) A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (35) By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

To love another person is to see the face of God (Victor Hugo, Les Miserable).

Health? Which I equate to the strength and courage to rise up each day and deal with the issues that face us in our daily lives. We draw this strength from God, who gives us living breath and heart. As we all exist, one breath and one heartbeat away, from the Soul’s eternal journey.

Drawn to my knees? Yes, I would view myself as a penitent sinner. “(There are) three ways of treating sin: indifference, severity, mercy. God’s way, as revealed specially by Christ, unites both justice and mercy…..”

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving kindness – Psalm 51:1-19

Settled in avoidance? I take it you mean am I settled on walking away from confrontation and conflict, as we deal with OWL issue? Of course I am – elsewise I do see myself becoming separated from the Congregation that welcomed me into the Church. Yet I accept that truth is something that we must all confront in walking the path that God has set down for each of us – finding our own way, in accordance with our faith in the Lord.

Equally, I acknowledge there are some would prefer to introduce conflict into the OWL dialogue, if it were to mean we may veer away from finding a truth that they, personally, cannot accept. It is the reason why our Church Leaders need to carefully control how the dialogue unfolds in the coming months.

Where to Lord? Well that is the Way of the Lord, as testified in the writings of the New Testament. We do not have to look any further than that. I am confident the answer lay in the Word.

And to conclude – as to what I am looking for from the OWL dialogue: Simply fairness. To one and all.