Heart and Soul 2017

I WAS blown away (almost literally at one point) during the afternoon of Heart and Soul 2017 – Word of Life. Yes, it surely was windy at times, but more than that, there was a real energy about the place – perhaps helped by the incredible variety of stand, tents and stalls that were crowding out in the avenue.

This is an event that the presbyteries are starting to get into in a big way – and that’s all to the good.

Photos: Jackie Macadam

The Church is doing a huge amount of good work out there in the communities it serves and Heart and Soul is a way parishes can offer not just mutual support to each other and share ideas and tips, but to show the man, woman or child in the street (or at least in Princes Street) what is going on.

It struck me as I looked at the tents full of enthusiastic people highlighting their projects with homeless people, disabled people, people with mental health issues, people suffering from domestic violence, children in need of befriending, people living in poverty all over the world – where would all these people be without the folk who work for the Church and for the charities showcasing their work?

When we’re trudging through the rain on our way to the Sunday service, or wearily picking up litter left in the church garden by passers by, perhaps we should try to remember that. Without you – without all of us – the world would be a darker and much less friendly place.

Word of Life might have been this year’s theme, but friendship was surely just behind that.

Smiling faces greeted me wherever I went – as well as the usual supply of sweeties and scones. I felt that this year, the catering was much better arranged. Even quite late into the afternoon I was still able to access an ample supply of jammy pancakes, sweeties and cupcakes.

Crossreach Grey Cake prizegiving – winner, Moderator of the Youth Assembly, Andrew MacPherson

My first port of call was to the Interfaith Group on Domestic Abuse tent with their display of shoes and the stories attached to them, at the foot (see what I did there) of the avenue.

Janette Henderson was manning the tent from The United Church of Bute. This year many more stories were represented by pairs of shoes because although there were a fair few pairs on show, many more were in photographs around all the walls of the tent.

“We used to have to carry lots and lots of pairs of shoes,” Janette explained. “But then someone had the genius idea of photographing them all with their stories, and now we can show many more of them at times like this. Of course the full exhibition is available – along with the shoes – to church groups or any other organisations that would like to have it. It’s very sobering and thought-provoking.”

It’s one of the displays that always touches me. I have a fair few pairs of shoes myself (ok, I have LOTS of pairs of shoes, much to Mr M’s despair...) and so I guess I look at these shoes with something of a connoisseur’s eye. I can see the hopes and dreams wound up in these shoes, some worn and battered, some pretty and flimsy, some wildly impractical. It’s an exhibition that always saddens me and yet, the fact that they’re there, on show, displaying the fact that their owner ‘escaped’ is full of a cautious optimism for the future.

Further along the avenue I caught up with Josh, Stephie and Amanda, representing the YMCA and dressed rather fetchingly in uniforms dating from the first and second world wars.

Guild balloon launch

Now, being an ex-Girls’ Brigade girl myself, I felt their drill left a bit to be desired, but nothing that a good half hour marching around a church hall wouldn’t sort out, but there was nothing to touch their enthusiasm for their topic.

They showed me a display about the YMCA Huts that were built all over the world during the wars to enable serving men to write home or even be entertained by music hall performers at the time.

It must have been very strange, going from the trenches of Flanders to a building to have a sing song and then back to the trenches. A surreal experience I imagine.

One of the exhibits that interested me was ‘Grasping The Nettle’ an interdenominational partnership that explores ‘The God Question’ through the lens of science.

Having interviewed Francis Collins, the American scientist who was one of the people involved in cracking the genetic code, and who found that his faith in science reinforced his faith in God, it’s a topic I suspect many people in the church will be keen to investigate further in the months to come.

I’m a tree person. I love trees. My small garden in Edinburgh is starting to resemble the forest that Little red Riding Hood had to walk through to her gran's house, and I’m fairly sure I saw a house made of sweets in there last weekend. Mr M keeps complaining about roots and walls and silly stuff like that, but you have to give them something to complain about, don’t you?

So it was with a considerable amount of interest I was drawn to The Olive Tree project, in the Embrace The Middle East tent.

Having listened with some distress at a Fringe Event a couple of years ago when a guest speaker from the Middle East spoke fondly of the olive groves that had been in his family for many years and were now being threatened with being torn up for a new settlement, I was interested to see that this project gives you an option of buying and sponsoring an olive tree to be planted at an agreed site and receiving not just a certificate of planting but the actual name and place where your tree is, and even the GPS coordinates of your tree! Kerensa McCollough from the project explained that sometimes when a field of trees is torn up they are able to be saved.

“There was one occasion where 600 olive trees were able to be replanted and saved after being displaced by building.” That gave me a bit of hope. We read about trees being torn up but not about the people working hard to save them and replant them elsewhere very often. They need more publicity and more help.

YMCA

I think when next month’s pay comes in I might well pay to have a tree planted somewhere other than my own garden. Mr M WILL be pleased.

As always, there were far too many people and exhibits to mention. The Bible Society, Christian Aid, Prospects, EMMS International, Mission Aviation Fellowship, the Diaconate, Borderline, Blythswood, the Vine Trust, Safe Families for Children and Tearfund were just a few of those I visited and enjoyed along with individual congregations.

I was particularly taken by the large photograph of Bear Grylls advertising the Alpha course, and describing it as ‘his greatest adventure’. There again he’s yet to meet me, so he might have to revise that description.

I could show him where all the best cakes, scones and lovehearts were to be found on a sometimes-sunny afternoon in May in Edinburgh. None of your worms and slugs for me, Bear. Now THAT would be an adventure!