Pilgrim's Progress

Visitation

How can I sum up this year's New Wine? Friendship & fellowship, a lot of relaxation, down-time, chilling out with late night wine, or with tea & doughnuts (hey Tearfund, where was the Fairtrade tea?), some great input, catching up with old friends, meeting new ones e.g. with Ben who I've met in blogworld (Tip: a good place to go to find out about what's new) ... he said something to me I'll post about soon.

Yes it was all of that and more. But I will also remember it for the times when the veil between heaven and earth seemed to part for a few moments to let God's presence through in a powerful way, bringing joy, laughter, freedom, giving and receiving, uninhibited fellowship - surely a taste of heaven.

So perhaps "visitation" says it best. This forest image came to me last night "by accident". It describes those New Wine moments when God came to meet me in my darker places. As I let this year's NW settle, I hope I will be able to visually express some of those "in the river" moments too.

Accidents Will Happen

I had an accident today. No, not that kind, a creative one. I clicked a wrong button in a 3D rendering package, and here is the result. It's much better than the project I had in mind.

Click here to view (1.3MB; Quicktime)

Set me thinking about life's accidents, disappointments, disillusionments etc - can these lead to something better than we imagined? Am off to New Wine North this week - has been a place of many happy "accidents" in the past. May it be so again!

Deep and Hidden Things

He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness.
and light dwells with him.
(Daniel 2:22)

"People who come to know the joy of God do not deny the darkness, but they choose not to live in it. They claim that the light that shines in the darkness can be trusted more that the darkness itself and that a little bit of light can dispel a lot of darkness. They point each other to flashes of light here and there, and remind each other that they reveal the hidden but real presence of God."
(Henri Nouwen)

I often ask God, "show me what's happening in this person's life", or "show me the real me that lies underneath" ...

(Click here for a full-size (1024x768) version of this picture)