More GB 05

It happens every year

I think that i am just settling down to normal life (is there such a thing?) and the whole Greenbelt thing just will not lie down and play dead! I am not the type that lives from Greenbelt to Greenbelt (more like minute to minute really, i have a very narrow perspective....i call it focussed!) - but i cannot deny the impact that this four days has on my life throughout the year.

It all comes back to this 'whole life philosophy' that permeates the festival. I am an arty-farty type so when i first encountered Greenbelt back in 1987 before going off to uni to study Drama and Theology (hence why i ended up as a minister - i was not qualified to do anything else) i was inspired by the vision of bringing faith to such an important area of my life. The influence of Gb on my theological development, the freedom of expression and thought, the sheer fun of the festival is beyond my abiltiy to describe. Likewise the refusal to accept the idea of 'being told what to believe' and the challenge to the status quo of the Church which is all a part of the GB ethos has probably affected me more than any other one thing in my spiritual journey.

This is not to say that Gb is perfect, far from it - this year i felt i didn't connect with the festival itself in the same way as i have done in previous years - and i found out a little bit about the politics of the Gb organisation which made it all feel a little more mundane than it might have otherwise. Yet it is a place which is alive with feeling, humour, hope, anger, love and hope - and faith too! I have enjoyed being a speaker over the past six years or so and hope to continue some input to the festival over the coming years. Maybe if i get around to that book i keep telling myself i will write (and friends tell me i should write, but only to shut me up about it i'm sure) i might be invited back to speak again...

Greenbelt isn't Church, but it is a vision of what Church could be - or perhaps should be. There isn't anywhere like it anywhere else, and as i said below in my previous post, the thought processes just keep on going. And i am sure this is not the last i will write about it...

Comments

moog said…
Yeah you're right, GB can be so inspiring and cahllenging. There's ideaas and theologies that I'd never hear at church I'm sure. And such a wide diversity of participants from monks to goths. Plus there's always some gems of music to be found too. Thanks for checking my blog!

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