Reignite

I just got back from Greenbelt. What is Greenbelt? It's like a rock festival plus theologians! Which works for me. It's a place to see a lot of interesting thinkers and activists in mainline, liberal and radical Christianity. Plus different musicans, artists, and peformers of all types. Here's some highlights with my bad photos. Musical highlights: Michael Franti Beth Rowley Speaker highlights: Brian McLaren - good on postmodernism Sara Miles - love her, love her, love her - it's people like her that make me want to be a Christian I also enjoyed Nola Rae (mime artist), Jay Lakhani (on the Bhagavad Gita and Hinduism), John Bell, Peter Rollins and Hymns and Beer: Where it's OK to sing hymns with theology you disagree with, because it is a pub, and you shouldn't always take things too seriously.

Hafidha and I had lunch while I was in Portland. It's been three years since we last met, and I think at about the same time three years ago we both started blogging. Thanks for lunch Hafidha and blessings and prayers to you! By the way, I'm glad I got some sunshine in America, because it was just hailing - in August! Oh dear.

Well, as you might have guessed from the silence here on the blog, I've been busy travelling the States, but now I'm back in Manchester. I had a good time visiting five different US cities, sometimes being a tourist staying in hostels, other times staying and catching up with friends. It was strange being in Boston as it was all very familiar and I always knew where I was, which wasn't true the rest of the time. It's a very different experience riding the subway in a city you know, you find yourself dropping into a commuter-zombie mindset and just zone out. But when you're a tourist you're much more alert and slightly nervous about knowing where you're going. If you're interested in my decision in New York (see previous post) I ended up going to All Souls Church. What clinched the deal was that it was near to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where I went in the afternoon. I did too much to report on here, and I'm sure you wouldn't be interested ...