Celtic Soliton Sessions - Portrush

Si hosted this leg of the sessions and some other Facilitators joined us, namely Kester Brewin and Julie McGonigle.

If my memory serves me right Gareth provided the reflection and backdrop for this part of the weekend. He told some stories from his journey where he encoutered and experianced confusion, brokenness and pain. We then broke into small groups to share what we wanted to get out of this part of the weekend and what we feared.

Late night conversation continued as people went back to their respective hosts. Si was a most generous host and the conversation flowed along with drinks. Given Si had wifi the Macs also came out and I was told I'd defiled the house by bringing a PC! (this was said in good humor).

Kester did make the interesting point that what frustrated him about blogging was that it was like being at a party where everyone in the room was shouting for attention but no one was listening. This is a good and interesting point - there can be the temptation to post just to try and keep your stats up or attract new readers rather than because you've got something worth saying. Also I sometimes get frustrated when a good conversation gets going in the comments and we all move on from this too quickly to a new post that bears no relation to the conversation that's just gone on.

Jonny did a reflection in the morning - he gives some links to the stuff he used on his blog. The Video was disturbing - it unsettled me and this was good. It got me to thinking about how 99.9% of what we do in worship is safe and comforts rather than shakes, disturbs etc. After this I joined Andrew for a conversation about starting new groups. Andrew led us through Luke 10 - "pay attention to the verbs" was his advice. Great stuff! What I'll take away from this is the importance of speaking "Peace", and the importance of finding "the man of peace" where you find favor and an opening for starting something. One of the important lessons from this passage and Andrew's stories is that our self reliance can often stop us from knowing God's provision. Andrew shared stories of openings for the gospel / new churches / relationships that he's experienced because of what he's not had and had to ask to borrow. I loved the simplicity of all this, but as I know it does not come naturally to me it scares the pants of me - oh how I need to learn to "walk by faith" a word God spoke to me so strongly years ago.

Went for lunch with Andy F - it was good to renew this friendship.

After lunch there was another round of conversations. Jonny did something on children in emerging circles. I however can't remember what others did. I went to the conversation with the title something like "does the emerging church care for the poor or are we a bunch of middle class guys who just get off on theological ideas". The space and size of this group effected the conversation negatively in that there were not many contributers compared to the number of people in the group. Si, Pete, Andy and myself said the most with Julie McGonigle's husband (sorry I forget his name) asking some good questions and making some good points.

At dinner time we shared a common meal and then there was an acoustic gig with Aaron Espe and Juliet Turner.

There were more good hearted late night / early morning conversations back at Si's.

On Sunday morning we gathered on White Rocks Beach for a guided walk with Jim, a local guy who is also a follower of Jesus. Jim did a brilliant job on mixing local facts, geology, wildlife and spirituality. It was a truly moving experience and perhaps a highlight of the weekend. We built the cairn in the photo at the top. The rocks were either burdens we were carrying or placed there as a remembrance to God for what he's done and is doing in our lives. Now you could do this in a church and it be good, but on this beach surrounded by ancient rocks and a crashing sea gave a sense of aspect to both God's imminence and transcendence. It was a moment of numinous, not in a pantheistic way, but almost a Theophany, a moment of grace in which we knew God's presence with us.

A hearty breakfast followed the walk of the beach, the facilitators gave their closing reflections and Gareth sent us on our way with a Celtic blessing.

I was very kindly given a lift back to Belfast which meant I caught an earlier ferry than planned and arrived home on Sunday night rather than Monday lunch time.

Comments

[andy goodliff]

Brodie - have there been some recent conversations which have closed down to quickly?

[Brodie]

Andy - by way of example I realy like what John Smulo does on his blog and becuase John take the time and effort to respond to every comment there can be some real gems in the comments section. That said John will stick up a new post each day and thus sometimes I feel that things have moved on too quickly. (John - please don't take this negatively it's just a personal view).
I don't know if Kester had specific examples in mind but his comment struck a cord with me.

[Rob]

There was a PC in the house? defiled for sure :)

[Duncan McFadzean]

Brodie, I've come across your blog before but apologise for never commenting. It's ironic because my wife is from Londonderry/Derry/Stroke city and we were actually in portrush last Sunday afternoon..........oh well, I'll stay in touch by adding you to my reader. That'll teach me for not adding you in earlier on. Will be good to hear what you have to say.
Duncan

[Brodie]

Rob - was good to meet you and your wife at the session. Hope that you enjoyed your time over here and that you return to the States with fresh hope.

[Brodie]

Duncan - that's a pitty that you didn't know the sessions were on. If you keep your ear to the ground I'm sure you'll hear of other gatherings.

[Jamie]

I agree with what you say about the "urge to post". I have felt that many a time. It's the nature of the blogging beast that if you don't post new stuff regularly you lose visitors, so conversation can dry up.

When I first started out I had a lot of stuff to say (I was at college at the time) and so I had a post every few days. Naturally, there was a fair amount of conversation back then. These days I try not to post for the sake of it, so often go a week or two between posts, but the result is that people stop visiting - even when I do finally have something worthwhile to say!

It all seems to get a little like that party described in your post. "I must say something (anything!) soon otherwise I'll end up standing in the corner browsing the bookshelf while everyone else is having fun."

I wonder if collaborative blogs are the way forward here - multiple voices (in cooperation rather than 'competition'), fewer posts each, higher quality of thoughts, broader base of experience...

[Brodie]

Jamie - I think part of the answer is people using RSS feeds etc., so it you post the feed lets me know.

[cegda atfuxze]

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