just an aside…

Just as an aside, with no real point other than what a nice day we had, yesterday we went to The Big Church Day Out. Which was a really fab day out with some awesome bands/artists including Tim Hughes (is it wrong to say I quite fancy him…?), Hillsong, Lou Fellingham and a host of others… We went sans enfants which was doubly good as we could enjoy the day without once going near a bouncy castle or ice-cream stand (oh the simple pleasures of life…). One of the loveliest moments of the day was singing along to one of my faves ‘Hosanna’ by Hillsong and feeling very moved in the spirit, and then looking across to the hill nearby and seeing a huge cross lit up on the hill. Our Vicar who was standing with us told us about the people who own the land, who are Christians and have been praying on the land for years for it to be used by God. On the hill behind is well known local landmark, Chanctonbury Ring (basically a bunch of trees…), which has been used for years as a site for occult practices and witchcraft. So when these guys moved in they went up on the hill, prayed and put up a big cross to claim back the land. The cross was smashed down the next night. So they went up and put it up again. It was knocked down again, and so they went up a third time and put it back up and apparently it is still there, (although I confess at that time of night I was not going to go and investigate!). Hence the reason why they lit up a huge cross of lanterns on the night of the festival, giving a message far and wide to the local area. The photo doesn’t really do it justice, but at the risk of being rather over emmotional, just imagine being in a field at dusk, with 10,000 others, gently swaying to the dulcit tunes of Hillsong United, the odd prayer being offered up (well ok, probably more than the odd one…) the smell of damp grass in the air and being in the arms of someone you love, both literally and metaphorically, and then you look across and see a giant cross on the hillside, flickering gently….. that’s what it was like. pretty bloomin’ cool.

ok enough gooey stuff for now, will be back to the ranting and questioning tomorrow :)