Bishop Hughes packs for the House of Bishops meeting — with a little help from her teething puppy, Muffin — and reflects on why gatherings we’re required to attend can sometimes become opportunities for learning, deeper relationships and unexpected conversations. (Time: 3:22.)
Video Transcript
I promise that every vlog I post in the coming weeks and months is not going to have Muffin in it, but she’s still kind of brand new in our house, and she’s fascinated with all we do, and we’re pretty fascinated with her. Today I’m packing to head to House of Bishops meeting, and I can’t exactly say that she’s been assisting me in that. She’s teething, so anything that’s available to chew on, she’s happy to get that done. So she’s been around the bags, in the bags, on the bags, and chewing the bags as I get ready to go. She’s not doing any real harm, and I know her mouth and gums hurt her. So… oh, did you hear your dad coming? Do you hear him upstairs?
So anyway, I let her do what she does, and there is not a thing in that bag that she isn’t happy to put her teeth on, to climb on, to dig through, to see what fun there might be in it. She does not give up. She just keeps going no matter what it is.
And, with or without the help – actually, I’m not quite sure it was help, Muffin – I am packed. The bags are ready to go. I’m headed to House of Bishops, and House of Bishops is one of those things that I’m required to do twice a year. There are things that the clergy of this diocese are required by me to do. They must go to Convention. They must go to Clergy Conference, Clergy Day.
There’s certain things that, that all of us are required to do, and I have to say we have to make time to do it, and we’re not always ready. Sometimes, like right now, I’m very busy in the diocese, and so the timing isn’t perfect. But I know that I’m required to do it, and I also get something out of being there.
And I wonder sometimes if I didn’t have the requirement, would I try to not go. I would, I would hope to think that I would go anyway, just because I get so much out of those meetings, including, there’s answers to questions that I have. That it’s actually easier for me to sit and have breakfast with somebody, and we can have an in-depth conversation than scheduling a Zoom. And sometimes when we have those face-to-face conversations, more things happen. Different ideas come to mind. Other people overhear the conversation and join in and are quite helpful.
So I find these things sometimes that we’re required to do can be really helpful. Not everything in life is that way. Sometimes we’re required to do things that we don’t necessarily feel the immediate benefit of, but this one, it’s good enough, and I get enough from it, and the diocese gets enough from it. But from my learning and growing, and the deepening relationships with other bishops, the diocese benefits from – our diocese benefits from that.
So, I’m going to leave behind my husband and my happy packer this morning, who actually wasn’t packing – she was just chewing my stuff. I’m going to leave them and head down to Camp Allen in, right outside of Houston and Navasota, Texas. Be there for a week, and I will be back, ready to hit the ground running.
