Disturb Us, O Lord.

I attended the Cardiff Men's Convention yesterday with Dorkomatic and found it a very challenging and uplifting day. 

It was quite a sight to see large groups of men milling around St David's Hall - they weren't drunk or causing a nuisance (which is what one usually associates with large groups of men in the city centre). They were being, well, Christian blokes (i.e. civilised and good-natured).

Other points of note from the day:

- Lots of men trying to find the auditorium looking very lost. I think this is because they weren't with their wives. Men are lost souls without their better halves.

- The powerpoint slides using Comic Sans (ouch!)

- 1000 men singing together praising God (which was great, except the sound had a distinctly deep 'bass' to it!)

- Nipping off to grab some lunch only to find Fab Mash was closed (nooo!) and getting chinese fast food instead (Wok to Walk - very nice substitute)

- Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) parking a plane next to the Hayes Island Snack Bar (seriously!). 

Finally, we prayed a prayer attributed to Sir Frances Drake, which I found very rousing and wholly appropriate for the day:

"Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves.

When our dreams have come true, because we dreamed too little.

When we arrived safely, because we sailed too close to shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess,

we have lost our thirst for the waters of life;

We have ceased to dream of eternity, and in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas, where storms will show your mastery;

Where losing sight of land, we shall find stars.

We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes;

And to push us in the future: In strength, courage, hope and love.

Sir Francis Drake, December 1577