Heart and Soul is the name given to the annual gathering of the Church of Scotland in Princess Street Gardens on the Sunday afternoon of our General Assembly week. It’s an event where you can find out what is going on in the Church in general, and in individual churches (who are encouraged to hire their own tents and tell their own stories). It’s also a good place for bumping into people from all over the country and beyond, and a marked improvement on the old Garden Party, replacing the formality and the queues for tea and cakes with the atmosphere and ethos of a carnival. I have to admit that my experience of Heart and Soul was somewhat tarnished a few years ago when Lindsay and I found ourselves wandering its length behind a bunch of Hearts supporters. Their team had just paraded the Scottish cup down Princess Street in an open-topped bus, and they were a bit the worse for wear. As we listened to their bemused comments, we began to wonder who it all was for, and whether it really was of any relevance to non-church goers who happened to wander off the streets.
This year, at the request of various people, we decided give it another go. I remember having a chat with David McNeish, our assistant, about the sort of thing we could do with our tent. We wanted it to be something that would be accessible to anyone who happened to be wandering past – even a worse-for-wear football supporter. We thought about a music tent, but we didn’t want to compete with the other musical events and performances that were going on. In the end we decided that something that had really helped following the tragedy at Liberton High School might be of wider value. Our tent was to be a safe place. Somewhere passers-by could stop and spend time with God. We also wanted to keep it simple – a table with a basket full of candles, some background music, paper where people could write prayers, a tray of sand for their regrets, and some verses from the Bible around the walls (all of which David now keeps in the boot of his car). Add to this a small team of volunteers, to explain what it was about and encourage people to make the most of it, and we were set to go.
The result, for me, was a very humbling experience. In the course of the afternoon I watched dozens of people of different ages, backgrounds, and beliefs going through the doors of the tent. The most moving encounter was when a young woman with no living church connection came out in tears, having recently lost two members of her family. A team member was on hand to listen to her story and to offer to pray with her in a quiet place – an offer that was welcomed.
And what have I learned? That God can make his presence known in the unlikeliest of places – even in a tent in Princess Street Gardens. If you have any stories to share of the places where you have encountered God over the summer, please let me know.
Much love
John