Festival highs

GB highs: being there with mayBe community - almost all of us, plus friends, in tents in one place on the site - brilliant. Offering our Magnificat installation and alt. worship service (see pic by Tom Baker). Everyone came to set up the signpost, organised by Dave our can-do man. Finding myself in 90's disco at the Winged Ox with the community celebrating post-service in the small hours of Monday morning. Meeting up with people inc conversation-makers with mayBe Si Smith and Michael Symmons Roberts. GB lows: uninspired by the music this year - and by the main stage thing - didn't go to see one thing there. Missing some of the most interesting stuff cos it clashed with what we were doing (or preparing to do): Ikon, My Morning Jacket and LDL...

Greenbelt 06

Almost there: Greenbelt Festival 06. Last year we (mayBe in Oxford) did a service at GB for the first time and it was great for us as a young community. A bit scary of course - we were going from our very relaxed, intimate setting to a much bigger thing, but it proved to be a real community-building moment. This year we hope for the same. The really exciting thing is that we are all involved, and that no-one is really sure what our installation or service (both called Magnificat) will look like because they will only come together at the Festival. If you are there please look out for us and say hello. The pic is one that we'll use at GB - painted by mayBe's Rachel Yates during and around one of our worship gatherings earlier this year. As you can see Rachel is a bit brilliant...

4am wake up

Back from a week's holiday (see the pic of Gail walking). Woke up the night before last and found myself trying to solve the Israel-Palestine-Lebanon situation. Not that ambitious then. Pleasing to say I don't usually wake with such global concerns on my mind. But there it was, and there I was. Found myself imagining the protagonists sitting together for a meal, with their children, grandchildren and grandparents in tow. The room might be pretty crowded but I imagined smiles and laughter breaking out, and things beginning to change. Dream on. No really, dream on...

a beginning

So it starts here. Been waiting for a while for the mayBe community blog to get going but it's taking us time to get it together - so I've decided to start a personal one. The name comes from a great story in the Old Testament / Jewish scriptures which has been working away at me this summer. It's about this guy called Jonah who wants to do the right thing, but rarely manages it, and for his troubles ends up, so the story goes, reflecting on life from the inside of a big fish, before being vomited up on a beach. Feeling queasy already...