Staying vertical

In spite of my bad start to the CWW Conference at Aviemore, I did manage to do my bit, helping with the worship, and taking part in a seminar (above) on Overseas Partnerships. Anyone interested in what it was all about can download the main talks etc. from the website.
Thanks to Peter Johnston for the photograph.

Round and round we go...

[Foggy Morning on the Black Isle]

Apologies once again for my prolonged absence from the blogosphere.
This was partly due to my being away at a "Church Without Walls" conference in Aviemore, where I did not have internet access (or, to be more precise, where I grudged paying for it!) the real reason, however, is that while I was at the conference I took ill and have been off work since.
Turns out to be acute labyrinthitis. More frustrating than serious. (Frustrating even for my GP who wasn't sure how to spell it!)
It all began on a Friday morning when I became totally deaf in my right ear; a bizarre experience, since I am used to being partially deaf in my left ear. Now I had to rely entirely on my "bad" ear. A recipe for confusion! Whatever sounds I did manage to hear were impossible to locate. A good lesson all the same in the old truth that "you don't know what you've got till it's gone!"
I was just getting used to the idea of being responsible for all the music at the conference while being virtually deaf (ironic really) when on the Sunday evening I had my first (and pretty scary) attack of labyrinthitis- in front of 300+ people, of course!
It was a bewildering experience all round... come to think of it "all round" is not too bad a description. Everything seemed to start spinning uncontrollably in all directions. I couldn't stand up any more. I broke into a cold sweat and apparently turned the colour of semi-skimmed milk (i.e. only a hint of cream...)
I spent the next hour and a half, lying shivering on the floor, wrapped up in a foil blanket like a Christmas turkey waiting to be popped into the oven. Thankfully I was also being attended to by a very helpful and friendly "NHS 24" Doctor, called in by the hotel, as well as a very kind nurse and another doctor I already knew, both of whom were attending the conference.
At the time the symptoms were so severe that the doctor didn't want to confirm a diagnosis. But - hey - I'm still here! and for that I am glad.
I've since had one other bad attack but otherwise everything is just a little bit wobbly and foggy from time to time... and some of the hearing has returned to my right ear.
I got a nice long explanation from my own doctor about what was going on inside my inner ear; something to do with debris in the semi-circular canals. Personally, when an acute attack comes on, it feels to me like someone has dumped a couple of supermarket trolleys in my canals!

The other Albert

This is the other Albert - Albert Bogle - he certainly wasn't "born at Nexus in 2007" but he was the driving force and inspiration behind the National Gathering. Now he just has to convince the General Assembly (many of whom were probably not at the gathering) that it really was a worthwhile event.
...which it certainly was!

Albert

You are invited to a party

One of my favourite speakers at the National Gathering at the weekend was Michele Guinness - and one of my favourite quotes out of all that she did say, as she invited us to enjoy celebrating, was this:
"Our God is a party-loving God and Jesus is a party-going Saviour."

...not that the casual visitor to some church services I've experienced would ever suspect this!

Leaving your mark

Another little picture from the weekend's "National Gathering."
There was an All-Age Worship Event on the Sunday afternoon. Lots of fun it was too, with singing, dancing, drama, and food too...
At the end of it, those who had participated were invited to leave their mark on the tarmac - using chalk. For, of course, the truth is that wherever we go in life we leave behind our mark, for better or worse, and at the same time we are constantly picking up something of what others leave behind. (That's the first principle of forensic science after all, isn't it?)
I took loads of pictures of what folk left behind of themselves in this way - messages about how much they'd enjoyed the weekend, pictures of themselves or their friends, Bible verses and sayings. I've chosen to post just one of them with the simple anonymous blessing to anyone who might pass by "Have some love!"
Is there any better gift than that to leave behind - not just on a pavement but in our everyday lives?

Every tent tells a story

One of the central features of the National Gathering was the array of around 200 "story-telling" tents.
The tents had been purchased by congregations, or groups of congregations, and were set up as mini exhibition areas through which the different congregations could share their own stories of what was happening in their part of the world. And the variety of presentations, not to mention stories, was amazing. [There was even a congregation from Argentina that had taken a tent to share their story.]
Some had gone to great lengths and exercised some real imagination to produce eye-catching displays: others relied much more on their people to simply share the story with others. The overall effect, however, was to break down barriers between individuals and groups and get folk talking to each other and making new friends.
The sharing of stories is often what creates community and binds communities together. And, what's more, the act of sharing your story with someone else can often be as much a source of encouragement as hearing the stories of others.
The tradition of community story-tellers used to be very strong in Scotland. Often these story-tellers were travelling people who would go from one village to another sharing their tales and entertaining the people and no doubt on the way gathering more material for more stories.
It's an art-form that, thankfully, is being revived by the Scottish Story-Telling Centre.
As its director, Donald Smith, points out: "In the old Scottish Traveller proverb a story should be told ‘eye to eye, mind to mind, and heart to heart'. "
There was a lot of that going on at the National Gathering, as you can see from the picture above.
I wish more preachers would realise the importance of story-telling as a way of opening up the imagination of people and getting them to think for themselves, instead of trying to tell people what to think.
After all, we have in Jesus the example of one of the best story-tellers in all human history.

Anke dje, anke be

I know! I know! I've had far too long a break from blogging... and by now I am bound to have lost all of my readers. So, no doubt I am now just talking to myself.
But - hey - I'm a preacher, I can handle that! Plenty of experience.

Talking of preachers...I've just met and also listened to the preaching of the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu.
Now there is someone who is surely never going to be short of listeners!

I have just returned from the Church Without Walls National Gathering in Edinburgh, and what an inspiring and refreshing experience it was. I'll say more about it in future posts, because this was one occasion when the camera was working overtime, but for the moment I just want to mention what a privilege it was to be in the hall with about 3,500 others, listening to the Archbishop delivering a message that was thoughtful and thought-provoking, careful and challenging, but also at times very moving and at times very funny.
For example...
"Are you the kind of person who, when he wakens up, says, 'Good morning, God!' or the kind that says 'Good God it's morning!'"

What I liked most about John Sentamu (and it was true not just of his preaching, but also of his one-to-one conversations) was his authenticity.
He is, quite simply, a man filled with genuine enthusiasm-and it makes him such an easy person to have a conversation with because he is truly interested in the person he is talking to. That's an example definitely worth following.

Oh... and he knows how to have fun too...

Towards the end of the worship service he got hold of a djembe and joined Jane Bentley in leading the singing with some enthusiastic drumming.

It's interesting to me that, according to the Wikipedia definition of a djembe* [and who would ever doubt Wikipedia? :-) ] the purpose of the djembe is to gather people together to hear some news or to celebrate... exactly what the National Gathering itself was all about.

* "According to the Bamana people in Mali, the name of the djembe comes directly from the saying "Anke dje, anke be" which literally translates to "everyone gather together", and defines the drum's purpose. "Dje" is the verb for "gather" in Bamanakan, and "be" translates as "everyone" in Bamanakan.

...and back again!

Well they did it! While I was out today some builders came and reassembled the scattered stones of our demolished gatepost, proving true the words of the preacher in Ecclesiastes that there is a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them together.

Only thing is.... they forgot to put back the gate itself!!

Hmmm.. I wonder if I should phone them up and tell them they need to come back, dismantle the post again, and do the job properly?
(Remember this all started with flickering lights!)
On second thoughts, perhaps we don't really need the gate after all. In fact it must be about 15 years since we last closed the gates over (when the children were small.)
Who needs gates anyway?

Well, someone clearly feels the need...
Since it was a very pleasant evening we went for a short walk down our road, past the first building site where the new villas are being erected, and then past the second site where some new flats/apartments are also being built. On a large billboard at the front of the building site is the architect's sketch of what the new development will look like.
Here it is:
And the description... "Situated in an exclusive, gated development of 26 luxury apartments with an enviable position in one of Carluke's most prestigious addresses...."
So whoever comes to live here wants to make sure no unwanted people enter their world.
I first saw these gated developments in the United States some years ago and they kind of made me sad. It's like going back to medieval castles: or even an admission, somehow, that community no longer exists. How many of you remember a time not so long ago when you didn't even lock your front door?
It also reminded me of these words of Edwin Markham:
He drew a circle that shut me out
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout
But love and I had the wit to win;
We drew a circle that took him in.

There are far too many walls, barriers, gates and security fences in our world.
We need more bridges bringing people together

Well tonight... there is one less gate!

Today I met a very interesting man with a remarkable story to tell, but I'll have to share it with you at a later date. Right now I need to think of something to say at a High School Assembly tomorrow morning.

Show me the way to the Armadillo...

I had a meeting today in the SECC in Glasgow, which will be the venue for Nexus, later this year.

My particular reponsibility is to organise the Saturday evening worship event which will take place in the Clyde Auditorium (pictured here) known locally (and much more graphically) as 'The Armadillo.'

You'll be hearing much more about it in later posts - that is, once I have something to say!

For the moment, I am in the rather worrying situation of having very few of the plans, and people, fully confirmed. But there is plenty of time....

Isn't there?...

I am happy to say that the rest of the planning team are much further on than me and that the whole event is shaping up to be a really exciting and dynamic three days.

One thing I have really enjoyed about working with anything to do with our 'Church without Walls' process is that the meetings have always been lively, creative, energising.... and enjoyable and that is not something that can often be said about meeting associated with church business!

It's the timing

At the beginning of the week I was at the Macdonald Highland Hotel in Aviemore for an overnight conference as part of a series of events which are to do with "Church Without Walls"
It came at just the right time to bring encouragement to a number of people, about 160 of us... although as I drove 150 miles each way through gale force winds and driving rain, it didn't seem much like the right time of year to have a conference in the highlands.
I took my camera but never ventured outside to use it. There wasn't much time to do so anyway as I was heavily involved in the music. So, no pictures of Aviemore, but instead a picture from a much sunnier and much warmer, Hong Kong. The picture was taken in a park in HK in 2005.
I thought it was a very witty way of making a point, as well as a pretty clever piece of landscape gardening.

Being 'Green' is very fashionable these days, of course... and not before time, if we want to save the planet!
Anyway, I remembered the photograph in the middle of this week.
On Wednesday, as most people will know, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, delivered his latest (most people think his last) Pre Budget Report. Then, as tradition dictates, his opposite number, George Osborne, gave his response. In doing so he made what could (and should) have been quite a funny joke about Gordon Brown trying to appear 'green.'
"People say that he has only become green recently. I think that's most unfair. He's been green ever since that meal at Granita's. The Prime Minister remembers it. Mind you, and I know the Prime Minister doesn't live in Islington anymore, it says something about the state of the Labour Party that Granita has just changed its name. It's now called: Desperados."
Full marks to the speechwriter. Very clever.
But, sadly, it didn't get much of a laugh... because of the way it was delivered.
"It's the way you tell 'em!"
But, it's true, isn't it?
So much of comedy is about timing and delivery not just the joke itself.
I think God has a great sense of humour. He must have to put up with us all the time.
But, then, he also has a perfect sense of timing.
"When the right time finally came, God sent his own son..." [Galatians 4:4]

But don't forget either what Mike Scott once wrote in a song:
"Well, if you want to give God a laugh- tell him your plans" [Long Way to the Light]