New Friends And Old

Had a busy weekend just gone, starting with the first (and only?) Christmas party this year. Which was fun. just a relaxing time with a few friends and some mulled wine, chatting. Nice. And then I went up to Manchester after work the next day. I support a Christian theatre company called In Yer Face, who are connected to the Message Trust, and have done for a while.

But, obviously, them being in Manchester, and me, well, not, means that I don't get to see them that often. So, when they wrote to me recently with the dates of their version of the Nativity, I figured that would be a good opportunity. I'd get to see them perform, and get to meet their newest members, Emily and John. Nice. So I sorted out staying over with John on the Saturday, and arranged to go to their performance at Ivy Manchester, which is the church where a couple of friends of mine go.

So. After a slight(ly strange) mix-up with the trains, which resulted in me having to leave work early, I got into Manchester in the early evening. And then had the slightly surreal experience of going to the house of someone who wasn't there, as John was out for the evening. He is on the Board of Trustees of another theatre company, and they were having a celebration of some kind, which he was attending. But I wasn't left on my own; Emily was there to keep me entertained. We basically chatted for the next few hours, or I did anyway-or, at least, that's what it felt like. Which is strange, as I can be quite quiet when first introduced to someone. We also found time to fit in a couple of episodes of 'Lie To Me', which is a fantastic progamme. So that was the evening.
Sunday morning was also a little strange, because they had to be at the church for about 6:30 to set up and do a run through, and obviously, there was no need for me to be there that early. So they arranged a taxi for me at 9:30, so comparatively I had a fair lie-in. Still earlier than I would normally be up on a Sunday, but as I'd also gone to bed quite a bit earlier, that wasn't a problem. Not likely to happen on a regular basis, though. The taxi arrived, dead on time, which was unexpected, but I was waiting for it-almost as unexpected-and off I went to the church. Or, rather, the Cineworld, which they hire on a semi-regular basis. As I was early for church (also unusual for me), I didn't really know what to do, so I asked someone on the Message Trust stand, and she showed me inside, where I saw a friend I hadn't seen for a while, since he moved up to Manchester to work with the Message Trust. That was unexpected-but brilliant. It was nice to chat to him for a bit, and I did get to chat with the In Yer Face guys before it all started, and I was on my own. I was sitting in the front row somewhere I'd never been before with everyone I knew onstage. But on the other hand, I did have a pretty much perfect view.

It was a bit unexpected, as it turned out to be a bit of a multi-media performance, with carols and live music from Twelve Twenty Four (one of the Message Trust bands), and, of course, In Yer Face. with their version of the Nativity, set in Moss Side.  When I first saw the publicity shot, it made me think about the fact that the first Christmas wasn't nice and fluffy at all, like the impression we sometimes get from Christmas cards; and when I saw the show, this was the overwhelming impression I was left with. When God came down to earth as a man, He didn't choose to make it easy-it almost seemed as if He went out of His way to make things difficult for both the people He chose, and by extension, Himself. A very powerful piece all round.

And then afterwards, after all the packing up and goodbyes, as they had to rush off to their next performance, I went out to join the church for tea and cakes. Thumbs up to that! I met up with the friends I knew who go to the church, and went to lunch with them and some of their friends. Which was nice, spending time with them-and their kids, who are smiley, lively and very noisy. Also a nice thing.
And then I went home, in time to get to church on time-so that was twice in one day, and neither was down to me. During the service, the pastor spontaneously asked if anyone had any encouragements of things God has done, so I got up and told them about the play. Which, 'coincidentally' led into what the speaker was talking about-that when God does stuff, it's very rarely nice and easily understandable, except with hindsight. Something I hope I'll remember.