Unanimity

We had a special business meeting yesterday at my church. There are very few things that we vote on, but among that small number of things is loan encumbrance. With rising costs of materials we needed to change some things with the building loan, so a meeting of the membership was required.

The pastor and board members were noticeably anxious. The vote was a big deal and you just never can tell how things are going to go with something like that.

The case for changing the loan was made by the pastor. He handed out a chart comparing the current situation and the proposed solution. He gave several points of evidence to support the change. The floor was then opened up for questions. After more than an hour we were still trudging along, and I was just waiting to vote so I could get back to Giselle’s birthday party!

Eventually, after almost an hour and a half of discussion and debate we were able to cast our votes. 104 people were there, so it wouldn’t take that long. There was a moment of awkward semi-silence while the votes were counted in another room. Then the time finally arrived where we would get the results…

103 in favor, none opposed, and one abstention. It was a veritable slam dunk and yet still we spent 90 minutes in the struggle!

How often do I spend a lot of time worrying over nothing? How often do I find a mole hole and anoint it as Everest? In retrospect it seems silly, but in the moment it just feels like the right thing to do. I supposed we could all stand to learn to sit back, breathe in, and…

—Rise Up!!