Long Journey: Entries from February 2009

Greenbelt have gone public with their theme for this year

Greenbelt 09: Standing in the Long Now

Our theme for the 2009 Festival has been announced, and it's Standing in the Long Now. Here's an excerpt from an article written for our website by Martin Wroe, journalist and Greenbelt trustee, about the meaning of 'The Long Now' and its implications for Greenbelt.

'The Long Now'. The phrase was coined by the musician, producer and all-round interesting thinker Brian Eno. And a good way to capture what it alludes to is with a legend about the C14th founders of New College, Oxford. The story goes that the dining hall of New College was built with a series of huge oak beams.

About half a millennium later, at the end of the C19th, the beams needed replacing. Being a wealthy institution the College owned some land and wondered if there were any oak trees on it. 'Ah...' said one of the tenants who farmed their land, 'We wondered when you'd be in touch.'

Turned out the farmers had a tradition that back in the C14th a new grove of oaks had been planted to make up for those cut down to provide the dining hall beams. The story was passed through the generations, one farmer to another: these oaks were protected, set aside for New College. Through the generations, the farmers were waiting, for century after century. For half a millennia.

Greenbelt have also published a fuller article here

Looks like its time to get the thinking hats on.....

These guys have been waiting for a long, long time (OK, sitting more than standing).

"These gygantic statues are the only remains of the immense mortuary temple of Amenophis III built in the 14th century BC. Each is 18 meters high weighing 1300 tons. One is monolythic and the second is made of granite blocks. After a big earthquake in 27 BC, the blocks separated slightly and this statue began “singing” when the sun was rising. This site soon became a pilgrimage site for the Greeks and Romans who believed that their hero Agamemnon (Memnon) was greeting his mother Aurora, the goddess of the sunrise). After the restoration of the statue by Septimius Severus, it stopped singing."

I can remember times when I have woken up in the morning and "sung" my praises to Christ, and I am ashamed to admit that now I am silent, like these statues. Maybe instead of GB just giving me a standard spiritual kick as normal this year, it may get me "singing" praises to my Lord and God once again......

Is this just part of the natural rhythm of my faith, is this a desert time, is this just me?Thoughts on a post card, or on a comment....