A full cup and a steady hand

The photo here was taken this morning by Fred Koenig, one of the communication officers for our annual conference. The setting is the basement of First UMC Jefferson City, at the UM State Legislators breakfast, sponsored by our conference's Spiritual Formation and Social Justice team. We had a lovely breakfast with several state senators and representatives. In the picture are, from left: Bishop Robert Schnase; Rev. Cathleen Burnett, chair of the team and Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder. (and by the way, that's Jesus on the wall.) After the breakfast, our bishop and I met with the team, and he answered questions regarding Pathways and his understanding of the prophetic ministry of the church.

Bishop Schnase's remarks at the end of the breakfast were, as always, well-spoken and contextualized to the spiritual needs of this particular audience. He used a phrase that I have heard him use once before, as he spoke about the importance of being faith-centered and anchored by that faith in the midst of the tumult that political life can bring. The phrase: "The fullest cup takes the steadiest hand."

I am not sure I know anyone whose vocation is more like a cup brimming at the top than that of a United Methodist bishop in this time of our church's history. Each of our bishops holds a cup full of expectations of others for clear and decisive leadership; full of their own desires to cast a vision of growth and hope for the denomination; full with the many small and large situations in an annual conference on any given day; law suits; financial challenges of annual conferences; appointments that aren't just needing attention during a few months of the year, but are ever-changing, it seems; full of time and energy spent counselling and consoling and conjoling district superintendents, whose own cups are mighty full, too; and being the denominational voice in his/her annual conference at all times. Whew...the responsibilities seem nearly endless.

And, at the same time, I have never witnessed a person with whom I have worked. bishop or not, who has a steadier hand than Robert Schnase. What do I mean when I say "steady hand?" I mean consistent, solid, confident without arrogance, the ability to state a vision with clarity. But I also mean someone who knows himself well; who is not afraid to face the conflict that inevitably comes with change; and who knows that God will continue to lift him up up eagle's wings (bald or otherwise) and that his responsibility is not just to be the best bishop he can be for Missouri Conference, but to lift that work of the episcopal office to God as a fragrant offering of love and dedication. His work helps us all to open our hearts and our churches so that even the sparrow can find a home there. We are blessed.