PAPA festival

We had a wonderful weekend at PAPA festival-- and many beautiful things happened... such was th' beauty of God that it can't be descibed in words-- but i'll try to let you know what we saw going on-- for one, simply th' fact that everyone was there shows th' willingness to answer God's call to truly be His people-- learning to live together and love one another-- many times was i brought to tears by th' thought of all of us together under th' covering of our God-- and many new friends were made, and old ones reaffirmed once again. There's something very special about not knowing how long it will be till you see someone again, and then there they are-- it makes th' time together oh so sweet. I think that many people realized their need for one another-- in fact that's why everyone was there. And there was a genuineness about everyone-- a knowing that you were trusted, and that you could trust-- this was not simply a festival to get away from your everyday life, and then it's over and you go back to your life, hopefully carrying something good with you-- but rather this was a festival where people brought their lifestyles together in one place to share them with each other-- to be encouraged that though your life is radically different than that of this world we live in you have support, you are not alone in your views and your choices. And also, one of th' most beautiful things that happened there, that i did not even realize till we were driving away, was th' complete lack of propaganda. We stopped at a gas station as we were leaving and it hit me hard-- to walk inside and be blasted with candy, magazines, junk food, and tons of other crap that a person doesn't need, and driving down the interstate, with billboard after billboard yelling in my face to buy this, do that, come here, save yourself, blah blah, blah... i realized that th' world really rapes your mind-- everywhere you go your mind is being filled with advertisements and propaganda-- and each ad you read brings along with it a thousand worldly thoughts that are not your own-- it's nearly impossible to keep your mind on th' things of Heaven with such trumpets of propaganda blasting in your face everywhere you go. Once we left th' fest i realized that everything that was available there, whether as a gift, for trade or even for sale, was a piece of art created for art's sake-- nothing was motivated by capitalistic desires and nothing was being pushed-- but rather everything was an offering made out of love, for th' sake of love-- upon leaving it struck me how rare this really is--

peace be with you,
The LightHouse Band