Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 11:06PM Conversations
From Jes Kast-Keat
Like Jessica and Tom I, too, went to sunny Orlando for RCA Conversations. Jessica did a great job at offering an overview of the event. On my personal blog I reflect on how uncomfortable I felt with some of the nomenclature used at Conversations. I also wrote a piece on the prophetic nature of the rapper Lupe Fiasco and what wasn't being said at Conversations.
This blog I dedicate to Rev. Ann Kansfield and Rev. Abby Norton-Levering who taught me how to stand up for total depravity.
Opening Night
My friends and colleagues, Rev. Leslie Holmes and Liz Testa, worked it on the mics as the MC's for the event. We were lead in a quick 'get to know ya' game where we were asked to stand up if any of the statements applied to us. "Stand up if you have been a pastor for more than 25 years" "Stand up if you have been a pastor for less than 5 years" etc... One of the statements we were invited to stand up to was this: "Stand up if you use the words total depravity on a regular basis". Out of the 500+ good ol' Calvinist that were in there only a handful of people (less than 20?) stood up. I was one of them that stayed glued to my chair. Total depravity...how...I don't know...how depressing!
Reader Comments (2)
Jes, I like very much how you intuitively connect TD to Ash Wednesday. It's why I wear my ashes with joy and why I love to give them out, they are such a liberating sign.
Too funny, so I'm digging around this new site, led here through the occassional forage into facebook, so loved Jes's blog that I driven to leave my first comment ever anywhere, dig some more, see someone else has commented too...hey, Boss! I'm delighted to find us once again at the same place. So Jes, thanks not only for your words, but being the magnet that makes me sense the presence of my beloved friend Daniel.