coo-ee!
I'm back!
Yes, camping with the wife and kids at the New Wine Christian festival. Tbh I expected to hate it, or (at best) tolerate it. A week of camping with thousands of evangelical Christians ought to be unbearably awful for any number of reasons. But . . all these happy clappy Jesus people are genuinely lovely. Been to a seminar on depression and heard the bishop of London speaking about hope, faith and love. Lots of fun and no fundamentalists.
I thought it would end with me 'converted' to Dawkins, dysentery & divorce; in fact it was just a lot of very nice people who genuinely believe that God loves them and who generously showed and shared love with me, a cynical vicar. Bars, cafes, stand-up comedy, live music, thoughtful seminars, inspiring sermons, honest prayer and heartfelt worship. I liked it.
On the way home I saw a large, neat, handwritten sign in a Somerset village: "Can Do Dogs - At A Price". What *does* that mean? Are they "can-do dogs"? (And, if so, what can they do?) Or is an offer of a service or product? As in: "I / we can do dogs - but (and here's the catch) AT A PRICE". Either way, I'm interested. And yet that's all the sign said: no contact details, nothing. Just those six ambiguous, enigmatic words.