Blogging A-Z Day 14: Laughter

If Plan B doesn't work, go back to Plan A.  First thing this morning, I'd planned to blog on 'Listening,' and had stumbled across some inspirational resources to back up my ramblings. Tonight, the post that I had worked out so fluently in my head, seems to have evaporated. This might just have something to do with the 'interesting' time I've just spent trying to untangle the unholy mess caused by three of my four church rota turns all falling on the same Sunday! Is there a collective noun for this? A multiplicity of rotas, perhaps? Does anybody have any suggestions?

So, it's back to Plan A. After all that, what else can you do but laugh?

Blogging A-Z Day 13: Kingfisher

Two looks at the gorgeous kingfisher today: Above - a reading of Gerard Manley Hopkin's sonnet As Kingfishers Catch Fire, Dragonflies Draw Flame, and below...

Disclosure - by Anne Lewin

Prayer is like watching for the

Kingfisher. All you can do is

Be where he is likely to appear, and

Wait. 

Often, nothing much happens;

There is space, silence and

Expectancy.

No visible sign, only the

Knowledge that he’s been there

And may come again.

Seeing or not seeing cease to matter,

You have been prepared.

But sometimes, when you’ve almost 

Stopped expecting it, a flash of brightness

Gives encouragement.

Blogging A-Z Day 11: Julian of Norwich

Wise words from medieval mystic and your original spiritual director - Julian of Norwich, aided and abetted by those rather more contemporary Moody Blues. Who would have thought it? I've been fortunate enough to have visited the chapel built over the site of her original cell during Mstr GP's student years; more info on her life here in Norwich Cathedral.

Over more time  than I can recall,   my membership of a local Julian Meeting has been one of  the mainstays of my spirituality. A simple half hour of silent prayer in the supportive setting of a small group - it almost runs itself. I can imagine that there are as many different ways of being a Julian member as there are groups, but the thread that runs through all of them is the simple setting aside of space to be with God. Strange, yet wonderful,  that somebody whose life was so radically different from ours here in the 21st century can still speak into the lives of those who thirst for 'something more,' today.

all shall be well...

Blogging A-Z Day 10: Impatience

If patience is a virtue then my halo should be positively glittering before long.  It's not really appropriate to elaborate here, other than saying that what's bugging me is very much what we call a 'first world problem.' Enough said. 'Learning curve' may be a bit of a cliche, but I'm learning all right: that I a) have issues  sitting with uncertainty, and b) hate having little or no control over a situation. The 'Self-Assembly Vocation Pack,'  cartoon that I drew years ago is becoming ever more meaningful. Pah!

Meanwhile "I'm still waiting..."

Humph!

Blogging A-Z Day 9: Honey

Image courtesy of Digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Talk about from the sublime to the ridiculous! I'd some plans to give you something highfalutin' and cultural today but typing this after Mr GP's birthday celebrations, my mind's given up on me.  So, here we are - honey, that snack of choice of that quintessentially English teddybear Winnie-the-Pooh. 

Isn't it funny

How a bear likes honey?

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

I wonder why he does?

Like Pooh, I do love my 'little something.' Probably too much, sadly, although I've not yet had to be pulled out of a rabbit-hole. That would be just the job for GP dog, given that he's bred for just that. Only knowing him, he'd be so anxious to get down the hole to find both rabbits and honey, that he'd likely get stuck there with me.

I'll give you a choice of music today: either Jack Buchannan's Everything Stops for Tea, or (tenuous link), the epitome of bubblegum pop - the Archies Sugar, sugar. Well, I did say from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Blogging A-Z Day 8: Greenbelt Festival

The Green Caterpillar - Greenbelt Festival, Cheltenham Racecourse, 2011

...and so to G for Greenbelt Festival, that annual dose of music, arts, worship, and social justice issues;  land of Amorphous Green Caterpillars, silly hats, fairy lights, music, mayhem and musings. Now in its 41st (or 42nd?) year, it's found a home in various different locations, the latest  being the beautiful woodland estate of Boughton House, in Northamptonshire. I've been an [albeit tiny] part of Greenbelt since 2008, both as a festival-goer with Mr GP to begin with, then one year solo, followed by three years as a worship volunteer. I've learned and experienced so much from it over that period. Encountering GB at a time when I was searching, re-thinking my faith and transitioning between churches, it's been in turn   a refuge, inspiration, exasperation and 'I-don't-know-what-elseration.'

Sometimes it's good to have a break, however, and so I've decided to take a 'sabbatical' from Greenbelt this summer. Last year, its first in Boughton, I found quite tough, both physically and otherwise (and I'm no softie!) It's that little bit further to travel for me than was Cheltenham, adding extra logistical and financial difficulties  onto the load. We'll have had quite a tiring year by the time August Bank holiday comes round again, plus the possibility of something equally exacting that I may be taking part in this autumn. Taking into account that Greenbelt is also in the process of re-inventing itself, it only seems sensible to wait and see what the feedback from this year, theme The Bright Field brings. I'm sure I'll enjoy it all the more for having a gap between visits, although the Bank Holiday is going to feel very strange indeed.

I'll leave you with a powerful moment  from Greenbelt 2012, (the muddy one!) -  the Sunday morning festival communion service with folk band Flaming Nora leading the crowd in Mike Scott's hit Bring em all in. Enjoy.

Blogging A-Z Day 7: Found Poetry

F for Found Poetry. There's nothing like celebrating the arrival of Spring with a Found Poem. Have a peep here for another example of this simple way of combining words and colours which even a totally non-artistic GP can manage. Another cause for celebration - the arrival of our new colour printer/scanner; long-awaited after a year of greyness. I even managed to install it myself!  Who knows? I may even be able to rediscover  my colouring and creativity as well as my blogging mojo.

The song for today? Well - with Spring in the air,  what better  choice than Louis Armstrong singing What a Wonderful World.