I went to the networking thing. The sticker had four categories: your name, what you are (worship leader, singer/songwriter, pastor, etc), where you come from and a thing that you enjoy. I wrote:
I am ... Matt
I come from ... Reading
I am a ... creative?
I enjoy ... music, words and cheesecake.
I'm not sure I like labels any more. Anyway, I went in with every intention of being much larger than I felt, so I sat down next to a lady on her own and in as cheery a way as possible, I said:
"Hey, how you doing?"
She said: "Oh I'm alright, thanks," and told me her name as she scribbled it out and carefully stuck the label to her coat. She was an Indian lady, perhaps in her forties. We had a nice little chat about where we were from. I said I'd been to Coventry to play at someone's wedding and hadn't really seen much of the city. She told me that there wasn't much to see, at which point I just about resisted going into detail about all the great sights of Reading. In any case, initial conversation seems to work best if you ask questions. So I did... until she said:
"So Matt, whereabouts in the States were you born?"
"The States?" I said, slow to cotton on.
"Yes," she said, looking puzzled, "You are American aren't you?"
This was a first. I was extremely tempted to tell her that I was born and raised in West Philadelphia, until an after-school fight on a basketball court got me into considerable trouble, meaning I had to move out of the country in order to stay with my aunty and uncle... but of course, I didn't say any of that.
My next favourite moment of today was a little stolen moment on the seafront. I was in a seminar room at first, when I suddenly had a deep longing to be on my own for a bit. So, I got up, swung my rucksack over my shoulder and went down to the Promenade. I was there for ten minutes, drinking in the sea air, letting the coolness of the afternoon wash over me and chatting to God about stuff that's going on in my head and heart. It wasn't a long time, it was just enough. My phone vibrated in my pocket.
Where are u at bro?
... texted Chris. Good question.
Later, I went to a session entitled: Gospel Choir Masterclass. While our choir is not a gospel choir at all, I thought I might pick up at least a few more general tips. The session was led by a girl who was impossibly beautiful. I think she's a voice coach in London somewhere, but she carried the sections through with a mixture of talent, co-ordination, enthusiasm, joy and encouragement, the likes of which I could only dream of.
And then - perhaps my most touching, favourite moment of all, was the sound of my life rewinding back through the years to Soul Survivor, 1997. Matt Redman took me (and I suppose, hundreds of other people tonight) through the songs of my youth, reminding me so clearly of the first times I heard them, of the impact they had had on my life and the beautiful way they had formed a soundtrack through my twenties: songs I had learned sitting at my Grandma's piano: Blessed Be Your Name, When The Music Fades, Dancing Generation, We Are The Free.
I looked at Matt Redman, just a few feet away, his guitar glinting in the stage lights. This man changed my generation and was the voice of so much that sparked me into being the person I am. His songs echo through my memories: as a student, a youth leader, a worship leader, a songwriter, a writer, a singer, a keyboard player, a Christian, whatever. Somehow, his anointing seems to open up a very special pathway to God for me and I was loving it. I didn't feel quite so alone tonight.
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