Abiding mems of Greeny...

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 30 August 2005 22:53:21

OK so I came back from Greeny torn between differing emotions.. Loved meeting the wibcrew, Sally, derek, Cookie, Sharon, Bayou, wife (who's name I shan't even attempt to try to spell), Tre and the rest.

However three things spring to mind that I didn't mention last time and shall do now.

1: I bought a pie from the pie stand and lets be honest here it wasn't four times as good as a normal pie. Nice, but felt short changed.
2: Saw a bit of rubbish on the ground and was near a bin so picked it up. Coke can it was and decided I'd put it in the recycling. As I went to the bin saw a chip wrapper and walked past it. I think I prayed something like 'why the heck does there always have to be rubbish?' and an answer, clear as crystal, came back. 'If you don't like it, do something about it.' So I did. walked back, picked up the chip wrapper and carried on going to the bin. A couple of steps in someone walked past me and said to a friend 'woo he's on a mission.'
3: and this is the doozy. Was crowded. People all over the place. However someone still thought, well, two someones because that's the way the game works, still thought that it would be good to play frisbee in the crowd. Silly, but there you go. However silly turned to quite possible astoundingly dangerous when a mum walked by with a baby in a baby rucksack thing and a stray frisbee, thick blue plastic no less, sailed half an inch past the babies head. And when I say sailed I mean industrial tanker rather than graceful starcruiser here...

Which brings me to the thing that I pondered... Which is I love this sort of thing, Greeny, Springy and the like. Just the feeling that you can walk around and Christianity is normal rather than laughed upon yet sometimes... Don't know... The show just seems an excuse maybe? things don't change percievably they just get slanted differently.. and this is by no means a discussion about Greenbelt specifically, having been at the majority of major meetings over the past little while its something that I've come back with from each one in varying levels of internal grumpiness.. Maybe it's just me and I should be rejoicing that the stray fris missed by half an inch, maybe I'm taking the wrong feelings in, maybe I'm missing something (and having only been there a day I quite obviously was missing something).

4: was something more personal, something I'm as guilty of as anyone. Two bands said something that grated during the festival, something that surprised me and had me thoughtful for a while. Both said words to the effect of 'if God chooses to bless us then we'll carry on speaking of God in our work.' Now I know that times can be very hard for bands as they travel the country and gig and write songs and chase a market that compared to mainstream terms is small and parochial... And I know I've said it myself although in less obvious ways maybe... But in what terms are they unblessed? The insinuation is that unless mainstream success comes they are fighting for their blessing and of course we want to see Christian bands take ground that the world has claimed as its own. Personally I would love to see Dr Sylver in the hands of many £6.99 paying non-Christian's, although as I'm foolishly on record time and again encouraging Christians to lend the book to non-Christian mates I guess I'm asking for reduced sales all told :~) But I know that as things stand the book is going to be seen through the shelves of a Christian market preominantly and while that is not what I would dream of and pray for (seriously I want to hear more and more from people who have no history with the theme of the book and enjoy the story: stil love the tale of a non-C reader who told me it was f***ing brilliant and called me all sorts of names because she was up to 3am reading it) I don't feel unblessed. I feel tired, fed up, pessimistic, flattened and overwhelmed by work and commitments sometimes, but I also feel remarkably cheerful, joy filled and blessed at times and pray that I continue to do so. Even when I feel flattened and the rest. This week I'm stufffed up with work to do (still aiming for a Chistmas release but up against it in a big way) and feel a tad squished. House group blessed me this evening and here's to always counting 'em, one by one.

Currently listening to: Larry Norman: Norman invasion. Currently playing: I wish I wish I wish, although did spend some time watching some one playing Guild Wars which looked very impressive but I know my machine would cry into its ram chips if I asked it to give it a go. Looking forward to the PSP UK launch this week but sadly only as a passive observer. Wipeout Pure, Lumines, Ridge and a few others all look top draw (as of course do a number of fine, fine games for the DS while we're into techo geek wishlists..) Dr Sylver chapter title of the week...: Chapter 10: Same old room, just totally different.