Derren Brown

Last night I saw Derren Brown’s show “Infamous” at the Lowry, Salford Quays. This isn’t going to be a review of the show as such, though some aspects of this will touch on that, and I am not going to go into detail as to what the show contained, largely for the benefit of future audiences who have not seen the show yet. So what I say about the show is either in very general terms, or has already been reported in newspaper reviews.

What has been said in the papers is that the show starts with Brown describing the process of coming out as a gay man. Basically, in this day and age, it was unremarkable. That, however, is not the purpose of this blog. I’m thinking more about one part of the show, where I hope I’m not giving too much away by saying that at one stage he put some members of the audience into a trance.  I have to say that I wasn’t entirely comfortable with this, and there is still more for me to reflect on in this area, but there was no pressure, people were simply invited to take part if they wished and no-one thought any the less of those who did not. I didn’t wish to take part and that was fine. More on that later.

If I understand correctly, those who were in a trance were conscious throughout. The vast majority remained standing, but 2, with whom Brown had some physical contact fell to the floor. One of those guys was seated across the aisle from me, and when he was on the floor, he was in the aisle, right next to me.

That led me to think back to some large Evangelical Christian gatherings I have attended in the past, and where I have seen a not dis-similar sight. It got me thinking again about something I have been considering for some time, at these large events, are the worship leaders trying to get the congregation into a trance-like state?

I have mentioned above that Derren invited people to take part if they wished – I didn’t, and not everyone did by any means, that was fine. There was no problem at the theatre last night, yet at big evangelical gatherings, if you don’t get into that sort of state, there seems to be an assumption that there’s something wrong with you / you don’t have enough faith / you need prayer.

I have blogged previously about this, after a preacher at Spring Harvest tried to push me over when I asked for prayer, (I have not been back to Spring Harvest since), and also mentioning a TV show which Brown did, based on faith healings. He set out to debunk the fake faith healers of today, as Houdini set out to debunk the fake mediums of his day, and whilst there will be many throwing their hands up in horror and saying that Brown, the gay atheist is on a one-way ticket to Hell, I for one think that he did the church a great favour there.

I’m not against healing, I firmly believe that God can and does heal, but not all healing is physical, and it is for God, not evangelical preachers, to say when healing will take place.

Last night’s show was entertainment, and we all knew that it was entertainment. That is fine. It is when entertainment masquerades as worship, and even worse, as healing, that the red warning lights should be visible.

Across Carmarthenshire

Back to Carmarthen with a bit of luck the worst of the winter storms have passed. It is now the end of February, and whilst it is not exactly tropical, there are signs of hope springing up all around us.

Today’s short walk from Carmarthen to Ferryside was rather functional. There’s not really a lot to be said for it, it was just to give me a bit of a start on tomorrow’s stretch to Llanelli.

So, leaving Ferryside the next day, it was a pretty easy journey along the path, skirting Llansaint and then reaching Kidwelly. That is a lovely place. I noticed the Methodist church, - it is hard not to notice it, it is on the main road and also right on the side of the coast path - and I also noted that I know the minister there. There was a coffee morning being advertised, but it said that it started at 10, and it was now only 9:30. I know I would have been made welcome and would have enjoyed a coffee had I shown my face, but I would also have had “Twenty questions” if other Methodist churches that I know are anything to go by! Not that this is exclusive to Methodism, and apologies if this is inaccurate here. As I said earlier in the blog when I was opposite the Methodist church in Llandudno having a coffee morning, invite me back sometime of you want to know more about the walk.

Not that everything relating to the walk today was plain sailing - there was further evidence of the storm damage from this past winter, and I had to avoid Pembrey forest, presumably because of fallen trees. There were signs and notices pointing out the diversion, and then the path was re-routed inland. It followed minor roads before leading onto an old railway track. The problem was, on the railway track, the diversion signs ran out, and at one stage I thought I was going to get lost when I realised that I was in danger of heading further inland than I really needed to be. However, when I then spotted a railway bridge, I was able to get my bearings, and it turned out, happily, that I was not lost at all. By heading onto the bridge, I could reach the main road and walk into Pembrey.

I passed through Pembrey and then stopped for a sandwich in Burry Port. That is the home town of a Methodist Minister who has made something of a name for himself – the Rev the Lord Leslie Griffiths of Pembrey and Burry Port in the county of Dyfed. It sounds grand, but he is very down to earth, and I have a lot of time for him.

After Burry Port, the path led by a sewage works. I cannot possibly comment whether that led me to think of anyone or not.

The afternoon was glorious and the walk from Burry Port to Llanelli was along a lovely bit of coast path. It was buzzing – a sunny afternoon in February half-term week, there were people out for a walk, walking the dog, going for a bike-ride etc. It was as good as late February gets. Indeed, having planned for a day’s walking in February, I was prepared for a cold walk, and was wearing 2 pairs of socks, one quite long to offer more warmth to the legs – I had to stop and remove these, it was so warm. For a moment I even regretted not having my shorts with me, but that would have been too hopeful, and I didn’t wish to scare people away!

There were also signs around here commemorating the achievements of Amelia Earhart, the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air. She didn’t pilot the plane – though she was later to become the first woman to pilot a place across the Atlantic, but pilot or not, she made the crossing, and this is where she landed.

Sadly, the glorious weather didn’t last, and I got to Llanelli just as it started to rain, but what a great day it was.

Under Milk Flood?

I have just realised with horror that not only is it June, and that my blogging of the Wales coast path walk is way behind schedule, but also that I have blogged once so fat this year. So here's an attempt to put that right with the next couple of stages on the coast path.

Laugharne – St Clears.

Another year is with us, and with a bit of luck, 2014 is the year in which I will finish the Wales coast path. It is also the year that marks the centenary of Dylan Thomas’ birth, so perhaps it is appropriate that the walking this year begins in Laugharne, where he lived and wrote.

You’re not far out of Laugharne when the path leads past his former house,

 and then, round the next corner is the famous boathouse where some of his best-known works were written.

At this stage, the path was a bit muddy, but not too bad. I’d certainly encountered worse than this before today. Later, though, it became a squelch. Some boards over the worst of it helped, but really, after a wet Christmas, there’s not a lot anyone can do about mud in January! Going over the boards, I did get a wave from a farmer – he was only saying good morning, but just for a moment, I thought he was trying to warn me of something, no, just a friendly greeting.

As it took place in January, it wasn’t the longest stage of the walk ever. Indeed, it has been one of the shortest. I suppose it’s more strategic than anything – St Clears, whilst not exactly a thriving metropolis, is just a little bit more on the beaten track than Laugharne.

To be continued with the hope of a bit better weather to come.

St Clears – Carmarthen

There has been some terrible weather since the last stage of the walk. Storms, wind and heavy rain have battered Britain, so much so that today, large parts of the coast path were more than another potential squelch – local knowledge had it that the path was flooded in places, and was impassable.

 So for parts of it I was forced to take the coastal cycle path instead, though that still offered some large puddles to navigate!

So was there better weather today? Well, I wasn’t battling serious wind and rainstorms, but I hadn’t got very far, in fact I’d only just turned off the cycle path along the A40 out of St Clears when I was greeted with a hail shower. A taste of things to come? Well, no, it was short-lived, but it was an uncomfortable few minutes.

After a couple of hours of trying to work out what was path, what was cycle path, what was road, what was flooded and what wasn’t, I eventually reached Llansteffan. There, chatting to a local lady about the path, I was advised that although the path between here and Carmarthen wasn’t flooded, there was mud which would be likely to be up to my knees. Most people had been opting for local roads instead, so, very reluctantly, that was what I decided to do. 

There were some pleasant bits to that though, Llangain church was a rather nice spot to have a sandwich, then the area around what was left of the castle also made for pleasant walking.

So, somehow or other I made it to Carmarthen.

I hadn’t been on the path as much as I would have hoped today, though it did coincide with the cycle path and even minor roads at some points, so it wasn’t abandoned altogether. The train home was delayed, and not helped by the fact that at the station there were three drunk Irishmen who didn’t seem to know the difference between Pembroke and Paddington!