There gets to be a point where, no matter what one says, the other clearly does not want to know. I have had that demonstrated to me often by my son, teenagers being so much smarter, better informed, more “with it” and certainly more wise to the world than a silly old Mum who has clearly “lost it” somewhere inside her assumed senile decay. My brain worked well enough when the little tyke was smaller than me, but now that I am smaller than him, it seems to have no knowledge of any worth at all - a kind of directly inverse relationship of sorts. The empty park bench here represents it very well, my son would expect you to believe. Certainly any useful information has long been leached out of it by the ravages of parenthood. Yes, there are usually perfectly good reasons such as these just mentioned to warrant not listening when one doesn’t wish to hear. And in the end, as youngsters reach adulthood, they must take responsibility for their own lives which includes the decisions they make, wise or not, and the consequences that those bring. The parent, wise or not, may or may not be heard, and thus the world moves on.

There has been a great deal happening in the world-wide Anglican Communion of late, and many reports published all over the internet. Did the Church avoid a split? Are the orthodox responsible for the schism? Will the Episcopal Church in America play ball - or simply reinterpret the rules instead? Will other provinces within the Communion play by the agreed set of rules as well? Is this as big as the Reformation itself? And who cares anyway?

Well, if you have no allegiance to the Anglican Church, then maybe it matters very little to you. The Bishops and Archbishops (the latter are called Primates, a term causing my thoughts to turn to that of monkeys!) have had meetings and talks and subcommittees and papers that were issued from them. They gave rise to documents and statements and covenants or proposed covenants and lots of words have been both spoken and written. Tempers flared, tears were shed, stands were taken, and the matter is ongoing. Since part of me, a kind of historic part, does have a little bit of allegiance still, I guess the outcome does matter to me especially as I want to see the traditional Biblical Christian truth upheld.

Did the Church avoid a split? I think they may have only postponed one.
Are the orthodox responsible for schism? Is belief really responsible for the separation of unbelief when the latter heads down a different path from it?
Will the Episcopal Church play ball? I think it will, but a different game by it’s own set of rules. And probably on a different playing field.
And the other provinces? We shall have to see. My crystal ball is cloudy from the tempestuous swirls of Thor and his dark omens.
The comparative rating with the Reformation? Well, in global Anglicanism, it certainly ranks quite close.
Who cares anyway? I believe God does.

So while the Primates have been busy in their upper house, a microcosm of these events have taken place on a certain forum which I have made mention of before. The dialogue has battled on, the subject that of religious liberalism, with all it’s both relevant and irrelevant tangents into the bargain. And this is where I come back to my title question… when is enough, enough?

The dialogue has tried the patience of many of us, probably from either side as well. We simply do not see eye-for-eye at all. No matter how painstakingly one can present a certain argument, if the other will not engage the points of debate, and for whatever reason does not believe - then they simply do not believe. I will admit that I have closed down to the arguments from liberal theology. Although the same Christian terminology is used, the meanings of words are tweaked and twisted; it is a different religion from that of traditional orthodox Biblical Christianity. I see the foundations of such unbelief to be firmly those of heresy. Why should I listen any more to heresy?

2 Corinthians 6: 14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

I have chosen which path to follow, and it is not in the direction signposted by liberalism. I have made a commitment, and in doing so there are options no longer open to me. That is one that isn’t. I have also realized that those walking the different path are closing off their options to follow the one that I am on. Since I believe I am on the right one, and that being on the right one matters eternally, I am naturally sad that they have decided to go the other way. Some have tried so hard to convince them otherwise, even showing them the map and pointing over and over to the directions given on it, but to no avail. Their ears and eyes are closed - just as they surely think that mine are too. How long does one persist while getting nowhere? If no approach at one’s disposal seems to work, then I guess it comes to that… enough really is enough. A decision was made, and the consequences will be theirs to savour.