Wild Goose

   When people ask me what Wild Goose is, I often find it difficult to describe. Sort of like my previous post about home, I can tell people about the physical location of the Goose or some of the details, but at its very core its something one must experience for themselves. But I did want to share some of my personally powerful moments from this year's Wild Goose Festival, knowing full well that others had different powerful experiences all of their own.
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   Phyllis Tickle welcomed the team leaders by blessing us. Not praying over us, for this would happen later by someone else's hand, but speaking words to guide us through the week. She reminded us that we are to become a bigger community of faith, across denominational lines, all for the Kingdom of God. And that the first thing God requires of us with such an endeavor is our sweat and blood.
    As she was speaking I was thinking - is that not usually what our God requires of us - sweat and blood? And what most people back away from. For when we are that invested, that connected, it can seem difficult. But if we are called to this task, the work we put in will seem light.
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    We were then invited to ponder two questions with deeply personal answers that I would invite you to ponder as well. Think about them. Write about them. Talk about them with someone you trust.
* What is a lie about yourself that you believe to be true?
* What is a truth about yourself that you are afraid to claim?
      These questions followed me throughout the festival and have settled into my heart in the days after.
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    The band The Collection opened up the festival. Two lyrics/ sentiments that struck me where:
* Instead of making us all your own, you set us free.
* Up among the dirt and rust is where the Kingdom breathes.
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    One of the speakers I was able to hear was Phillip Yancey. He told a powerful story/ analogy of a high school orchestra attempting a song by Mozart that is beyond their level. You do not blame Mozart for their mistakes. Similarly, you do not blame God when the church does not live up to the image and work of the Kingdom.
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   Part of what makes the Goose so hard to capture in words is its spirit of hospitality. I've been to different Christian festivals in the past where people treated each other very poorly - fighting over space and mistreating each other in general. That does not fly at the Goose. We are about intergenerational spirituality where all are welcomed as they are, and where we can shine part of the light of the Kingdom through our actions and words.