Spirituality 4 - Lessons Learned

To close this little chapter on spirituality, I'll just reflect on some of the lessons I learned from my 'tent experiment'. Two things were against it: firstly, it was put together in a hurry and more importantly, it poured with rain for the whole afternoon while the fete was happening.

This latter fact meant that a lot of church people used the tent as a shelter and for a time it became a sort of base for the fete organisers (mainly because my wife, Shirleyanne, was one of the key organisers). Other church members wandered in for a chat. This had the effect of making the tent a place of busyness rather than peace. Largely this was because I had no time to tell church people about the tent or its aims, so they came in.

In fact, I'm not sure that there should have been anyone in the tent at all. I had this notion that I would sit quietly in the tent, meditating, and that this would model an atmosphere for any visitors. Perhaps one or two might want to talk; if so, I would engage with them. If not, I'd just sit still. But maybe my presence was both an attractor to church people to come and chat and an inhibitor to non-church people.

I was also concerned that the tent was too large but this led me to prepare four 'stations' and the end effect was that it was actually a little too cluttered. I don't know if this mattered but I was aware that the forgiveness station (inviting you to put a stone into a bowl of water if you wished to put away something that you regretted) was rather exposed if there was anyone else in the tent. In addition I had to put two stations (prayer & meditation) on the same table which was not ideal.

Finally, a practicality. Because it poured with rain nonstop and the wind got up from time to time some of my cards got wet and the ink ran. A laminator (which I've now ordered) would have been a great help.

And—was it worth doing? Yes, it was. If nothing else I learned a lot. But I do believe that it was some kind of a marker; unashamedly Christian but in a manner which many would not associate with the church. It was a start, a small one perhaps, but a start nonetheless.