And so this passage gives us hope. We have hope that we are doing ok, as a church. Although we are fallible, we have been given authority to grow, to change, and to govern ourselves. I know that many people worry about the direction that the church is going. People worry about what General Council is doing in Toronto, what Bill Phipps is up to.
People wonder where the national church is going when it ordains gays and lesbians.
People wonder if the church is too whishy-washy or politically correct. The guru whispered the sacred mantra into his ear, warning him not to reveal it to anyone. No sooner had he heard those words than the devotee rushed to the marketplace, collected a large crowd around him, and repeated the sacred mantra for all to hear. The disciples reported this to the guru and demanded that the man be expelled from the monastery for his disobedience. His action has shown him to be a guru in his own right.