Greenbelt. What I learned.

Dear Reader.

I am back from the Cheltenham greenbelt festival (art, faith and justice) and after spending four days in a muddy rainy field going to seminars, music gigs, comedy gigs (I saw robin Ince live three times. Be still my rationalist heart) and poetry readings what have I discovered?

1. Water proof cagoules (good word) have a maximum capacity at which they will somehow overflow and your limbs and back will be completely soaked with guttering water.

2. I discovered this lovely singer. Grace Petrie. Which you should look up. She does do non-political songs as well.

3. if you fart and sneeze at the same time you will actually implode and cease to exist.

4. if when a cat is yawning and arching its back you press on its spine it will bust.

5. cats always land on their feet unless you butter their back.

those last three weren't from experience but I have it on good authority, from a comedian called Mike Wazniak, who wears a space man suit no less, that it's all compleately true. 

Yeah you say you don't believe it but you'll all be trying it with your cats at home.

6. Robin Ince is just quite frankly a lovely human being as well a brilliant comedian.

7a. My idea of Heaven does not feature "foie gras to the sound of trumpets", it must involve drinking tea, in a tent, to the sound of sitar players.

7b. Christian Indie Sitar players (Hindi Indie) actually exist!

Yeshu Raja (Jesus King)

8. Finally I discovered that describing yourself as a Christian tells someone very little about who you are. This week I have seen anything from hippie Christians to punk Christians, to Goth Christians to Hipster Christians, to Geek Christians and Bookie Christians to feminist, socialist, lesbian or gay Christians. There are Christians all over the world with different languages and traditions. Not to mention the seemingly countless denominations within our own country all with their own focus on morality and ways of worshipping god and similar to any group in fact any crowd of people if you talk to enough of them there are bound to be some you disagree with and sometimes wish would just go away (that's not religion that's just people).

In fact often I feel that those are the only type of Christians greenbelt never attracts, the people who have such a ridged idea of Christianity that they could never stand being around all the kinds of Christians I just mentioned.

If you have a picture of a Christian in you're head it could possibly be as stereotypical as when people think all gay people act, look and talk like Graham Norton or Mr. Humphrey's in "are you being served" and in the similar way being Christian doesn't take up every element of our entire existence, (often religion is one of the lights by which we see the world not just our world itself). We should never be a Christian "full stop" because if nothing else Christians should never get stuck in their own beliefs and should always be questioning where they stand on  the questions of life and always live in doubt.

I will now calm down.