" They are not long, the days of wine and roses." Ernest Dowson - Vitae Summa Brevis
This weekend in England we celebrate our last long Bank Holiday weekend of the summer. It falls at the end of August every year. At the end of hopefully a warm summer spent climbing trees, bathing in the river, cycling bikes and not forgetting the traditional picking of blackberries. The idyllic English summer that we dream of & occasionally achieve ends with this final long glorious 3 day bash!
Usually it beckons us to take a final dip in the sea. A farewell summer BBQ before the new academic term begins. Some will go camping. Others will escape to a music festival or the famous Notting hill Carnival. It often involves lashings of rain, last minute dashes to the beach and the ever optimistic enduring British characteristic of endless humour and patience.
At the end of August I am sometimes to be found either over in France staying with my brother & family or possibly down in Cornwall camping. This year I haven't really been anywhere. But my summer has been long and carefree. I survived 2 heatwaves. I did go wild swimming in the river. I learnt how to make delicious homemade blackberry ice-cream. I climbed a couple of trees with my nephews. Chased the geese at Loseley. Mastered the swings in the woods at Watt's gallery after making the mistake of swinging my nephew into a tree trunk! Made friends with a Bengal cat named Benji. Spent nearly every day in the walled garden at Loseley and gate crashed a few of Peachy Playhouse events in the lower field. I have listened to some great comedy acts, the comedians were delighted to be let loose on an audience after months at home. It will go down as the weirdest venue they have ever worked - a cow field on a country estate with the audience sitting in cars behind white picket fences! I enjoyed live music from my picnic rug at the back of the field. The Ambassador band were so good that they have been rebooked 4 times this summer. I enjoyed it all but never managed to experience the Peachy Playhouse 'Drive In.' Never mind - there is always next year.
It has been a very different summer. There are many things I've missed out on and the one I am pining for this August Bank holiday is DAVID'S TENT. I attended for the first time last year and it blew me away. I was a latecomer to the festival and regret waiting so long to attend because this year it is not happening. For those who don't know what I am talking about - DAVID'S TENT is a weekend of live worship that is non stop for 72 hours. There is no other agenda other than to worship Him because HE IS WORTHY. No hype. No rockstars or musical diva's. No performance. No desire to entertain an audience. Just a rotation of men and women equipped to lead others into His presence and sensitively navigate the anointing. No stadium packed with bodies. Just a tent in a field in the English countryside filled to overflowing with His children. It's the most beautiful experience & one of the greatest casualties of the COVID19 pandemic.
There is nothing that can replace corporate worship. Nothing. No Nothing.
There is nothing like it.
It's like diving into a pool of honey. A sweet fragrant warm comforting hug from heaven. It is HOLY.
There are layers to worship. First is that moment the mind settles and stops wandering off. The shift from watching to engaging. The entering in. We enter through the act of praise. If there are enough people and the music is loud enough I love the joy of singing as loud as I can with no fear that anyone is listening or paying me any attention at all - except THE ONE it is all for.
Praise has layers. It is like sea waves crashing on the shore. Backwards and forwards. It tunes us in and when we are tuned in - next comes the moment your senses come alive to His presence.
You find yourself absorbed in the beauty of your best friend, your Father and your King. You feel His gaze upon you. You sense the smile in His eyes. It's a shift. A feeling of being safe. Of being looked after. The anxiety drops. The fear lifts. Suddenly is seems that everything is going to be alright. He has this. He has you. He is kind. It is the relief of realising He is in control and you can let go.
You are known. You are accepted. You are valuable. This is family. This is family time. This is where the worship starts. This is where you can wander the halls of heaven. Worship lifts you out of your current situation and reveals a glimpse behind the curtain. It is a place of hope and joy. It strengthens us to be with others in a place of worship. It is more than a chanting crowd at an event. More than a musical choir singing together. Biblically there is huge value placed on the power of agreement and unity. (Ps 133:3) It's where the Lord commands a blessing. Hence the magic ingredient that makes worship so unique. The moment it lifts from natural to supernatural. The moment the glory shows up! It is why I can describe the atmosphere as feeling like honey. Psalm 133 describes it as anointing oil dripping down. Warm, healing, comforting, aromatic, sweet.
Behold, how good & how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together unity!
It is like the precious ointment poured on the head, that ran down on the beard of Aaron, the first high priest, that came down upon the collar and skirts of his garments, consecrating the whole body.
It is like the dew of lofty Mount Hermon & the dew that comes on the hills of Zion: for there the Lord has commanded His blessing, even life forever more upon the high & the lowly. Psalm 133
The atmosphere can also be felt to be heavy with presence, like dew. Dew that is refreshing, sparkling, life giving, soft, gentle, sweet. It settles in beads, a mist, a soft perfume.
If you linger long enough there is the electric atmosphere of KAVOD. The heavy presence. The WEIGHTY GLORY. The moment the atmosphere shifts and A HOLY AWE ENTERS. The moment you find yourself down on your face crying. Or silent. Unable to move or speak.
It doesn't always happen. But when it does it is AWESOME. Forget fame or riches. There is nothing that will ever compare to a touch from heaven. What a privilege. You can't buy it and you can't earn it. All you can do is receive it. Oh to be a friend of God. It is worth everything.
I have been to so many live music gigs. I know the power of the crowd. The joy of shared music. But it is so shallow when compared to experiencing HOLY AWE. I love loud parties. I love a good show. But nothing, nothing, nothing is anything close to the brilliance of HIS PRESENCE.
David's Tent and the experience of 72 hours in worship is incredible and I AM SOOOOO ANGRY that we can't meet this year. Angry at COVID for stealing this from us. I am angry that the practise of taking communion together and the laying on of hands have been shut down by COVID. I have lots of anger & I don't feel apologetic for it. What COVID has done to us is evil.
However, this is the world we live in. These are the circumstances we find ourselves in & despite the restrictions, many of us will be spending this weekend worshipping Him for no other reason than that HE IS WORTHY. I have had the GLORIOUS WEIGHTY PRESENCE/ KAVOD show up in my bedroom once before and many times in a less intense way I have felt the GLORY enter my lounge. He can show up anytime, anywhere.
But oh how I look forward to the next time we can meet at DAVID'S TENT & worship again together!
For me this weekend has a gaping hole in it's middle. But enough ... We will get through this.
'It's a Holy thing to be wild & free!' Jason Upton
' ... and the glory of the Lord filled the house.' 2 Chronicles 7:1
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