Simon Says ...

It was the Sunday School picnic today, and one of the things we did was to make an ark out of junk. It revealed a great deal of talent (not least amongst the adults present!) and was a lot of fun. On our ark at least, elephants were classified as clean animals - there were nearly seven pairs of them! But the fun with our junk ark threw light onto two other arks. The first was this, which appears to claim that the Biblical story was originally in miniature: And the second was this, the ark in our Family Worship Area (ne Children's Corner). It would perhaps be at home in the Diocese of New Hampshire: Two by two indeed.

Today was Open Doors Day - a day when normally closed buildings across Bristol are opened to the public. We qualify by opening parts of the church that are not normally accessible, like the roof and the bell tower. We also make displays of our vestments and silver and so on. Oh, and we serve tea ... It was a great day, with a lot of hard work put in by all concerned. I had to go out at lunch time to dedicate a cross in the churchyard of St John's, Bedminster. St John's was destroyed in the war, and was then absorbed into my parish. There had been a church on the site since before the Domesday Book, and it was the Mother Church of St Mary Redcliffe. So we owe it our ecclesial life, so to speak. So it was with gratitude that I went to dedicate the cross, and to pray in the site of ancient prayers. All in all a good day.

"Make an elephant" said the boy, dumping a load of the most un-elephantine stuff on the breakfast table in front of me. So one lolly stick, one pipecleaner, two cardboard squares and a fluffy ball later, we had an elephant. And all before morning has any right to begin.

Piano art has come to Bristol. All over the city there are pianos simply left and waiting to be used. I've come across two in the past couple of days, and both have been played constantly (and very well). An improvised concert across the city! The artist behind this, Luke Jerram , is based in Bristol, but has only put pianos around Bristol after he's done this in Brazil, Thailand and all over the world. Art for the people! Now to upload my photos onto the website ...

Three steps at nursery and two in our kitchen and suddenly we have a second toddler on our hands!

So that was Greenbelt - a fantastic weekend of music, worship, talks and hanging out. I never fail to come back from GB with new ideas and resources. This year the theme was 'Standing in the Long Now' - an encouragement to take the long view, and to slow down. There was also a lot made of what seems to be Greenbelt's commitment to the Palestinian people in the midst of the conflict there. Some highlights for me: 1. Piles of Rice - these were in the Christian Aid tent and were done by a theatre company. They really brought to life the huge statistics that we hear in the news. It also had a sense of humour. 2. Fischy music - children's music that is very rich and engaging. But mostly because the boy loved it and danced and sang and came back for more. 3. Gene Robinson - I went because I thought I ought to go and hear him, and found him a gracious man even if I don't always agree with him. 4. Temple Theology - for my inner theology nerd. 5. The Elbow Bump of Pea