We are back in this evening after another day spent out on Dunoons West Bay, serving mulled wine, mince pies, and having lots of good conversations with folk as the came to collect Christmas trees.
We had also set up some meditation things, did some music (oh my fingers!) and were selling Sky lanterns with the intention of inviting people to write prayers/thoughts on them, and participate in a massed sky lantern launch.
Why did we do it?
- To encourage people to be reflective and conscious of the season of Advent- a way for people to become more Spiritually aware, and open again to the Spirit of God
- To support work to raise money for CLANN (Community leisure development) and Christian Aid.
- To make a lovely spectacle that will linger in people’s minds
- To bring people together- and allow community to flourish, in all it’s different forms
And it was great!
We had a mixed blessing with the weather- it was calm, dry, but the Clyde was masked in freezing fog, and echoing with the mournful fog horns as ships passed out to sea.
However, the sight of the lanterns going off up into the mist was wonderful- eery, moving and affecting.
What was even better was the numbers of people who came and took part this evening- from schools, community projects, families, individuals.
Michaela described one family who lit the lantern, then stood together around it as it warmed up, arms around one another in silence. Then they let the lantern rise up into the night sky. Whatever their prayers were, may they be blessed…
Here are the promised photos- Andy took some more, so I will hopefully get to post a few of his soon.
