As many of you may know, COVID delayed General Conference -- the Quadrennial gathering of United Methodists where all denominational decisions are made. With COVID continuing to spread globally, there is a strong chance that the Conference, scheduled for August-September 2022, may be postponed again, which will leave the denomination in this state of indecision -- the biggest of which is if we can continue to be one denomination or separate amicably so each can fully live into their conviction of who God calls them to be.

I'd love to share a story with you. This is a moment of radicalization for me. I've had many. Some say you get more conservative as you age, but this has been absolutely false for me. Events in my life and awareness of political realities has only made me more radical and wanting to change the structures in this world to be more equitable.

This week's lexicon entry is a...not particularly happy Czech word -- litost.  It means the feeling of regret and misery you get when you look at your own life and aren't happy with it, aren't content where you are. It's...the darkness that comes in the night when you can't sleep and can't see a way forward, the dark of depression and self-hate and thinking that you should be more than you are.