Congratulations #GC2012 delegate! If you are reading this, and still able to read and comprehend after 2 weeks of General Conference, then you have successfully completed your program of United Methodist rehabilitation and are now ready to re-enter the normal world. You should prepare for this as regular life is VERY different than your recent experience in Tampa. Here are a few reminders in case you have forgotten, or in case you are so immersed in GC ways, that you may have difficulty with re-entry.
1. You have been through an incredible, stressful, difficult, exhilarating experience. Your attempts to explain these things will be difficult at best. The more you regain normal standing in society the more this will become clear. Do not, I repeat do not, try to "unload" everything on your loved ones in one conversation. Get some rest, process what you have been through, and understand that most on the outside won't understand.
2. The average person will not care about the Code, the paragraph number you are talking about, or other workings of the House. Most people on the outside have not had the experience you have had and will not understand your time served. You will not need to wear identification. In most of life you will not be prevented from access to some areas due to your identification or security level.
3. You do not need to ask for permission to talk. You do not need to wave a certain colored paper so that the warden will allow you to talk. You do not need to ask permission to ask a question. You do not need to follow the agenda or directives of the warden or your cell block leader. Now that you have been rehabilitated you can function as a normal person with freedom to interact with others.
4. You have been in a tough setting where you have felt compelled to defend yourself, to group up with others of like mind as you have attempted to survive, but the world is somewhat different. While people do group with others it is different on the outside. Most people (excluding politicians and some religious types) do not operate this way. There is no need to run with gangs. There is no need to feel as if gangs are against you. Follow Christ and trust Holy Spirit as you live as a child of God.
I have kept this short as I know your attention span is now short! Do not worry, as that too will come back with time. We trust that you have learned much about consequences, communication, order, & the Code.
Our hope is that you will be stronger for your time served at GC2012. We hope you have learned your lesson and are changed in all the best ways. This may take some time to live into, but that is our greatest hope.
2 comments:
Scott, today's post is hilarious! May we reprint it on United Methodist Insight? http://um-insight.net
I'm glad you enjoyed it Cynthia! True blogger style, I wrote it in a hurry, without double-checking anything, and from a distant seat without much information. :) Feel free to use it. I'm just worried my GC delegate brothers and sisters might need a decompression chamber or something to aid stepping back into real life.
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