Another fascinating Festival day

TODAY sees another fascinating blend of performance, poetry and workshops at the Festival of Spirituality and Peace here in Edinburgh.

The day kicks off at 11am with Dances of Universal Peace in the Chapel at St John's Church (Venue 127) - an opportunity to link inner and outer journeys in movement and body connection.

This is followed by more Sacred Space with Ben Kearsley in the Church from 12.30pm, and Worship at One at (you guessed it 1pm!).

Many people will be working in some relaxation and unwinding, not to mention fabulous food and tea, in the Persian Tent Village, before during and after those sessions.

Leave to Remain, which uses live music, ritual and storytelling to create a surprisingly uplifting performance about bereavement, follows at 2pm, again in the Chapel.

Then it's What's the Time, Mr Wolf? at 4pm in the Church Hall, with Debi Gliori. The award-winning author shares her new children's book.

Next up is a poetry treat with the StAnaza Showcase in the Church.

At 6pm it's more Scottish Six in the Hall, as Lesley Riddoch and Andy Wightman take us on a journey through Scotland's past, present and future, with a "people's eye view" on the issues that often don't make the headlines.

At 8pm we turn our attention to Daoism and the Way Forward in the Hall.

Last, but certainly not least, is a further knockout performance from South African acapella sensations Soweto Entsha (pictured) in the Church.

All in all, an ideal day out!

Feeding heart and soul

MARTIN Aelred is among those performing at Sacred Space at the Festival of Spirituality and Peace in St John's Church this coming week.

The singer-songwriter promises to "feed your heart and soul" on Monday lunchtime, 22 August (12.15-1pm and free).

Sacred Space is an opportunity to experience the stillness and peace of a beautiful church. It provides music and silence in the midst of a busy festival.

Spend an half an hour with some of Edinburgh’s finest musicians in one of its most stunning buildings. Open to those of all faiths or of none.

The upcoming roster is: Monday 22, Martin Aelred –Voice and Guitar; Tuesday 23, Sacred Sphere with Mio Shapley – Harp; Wednesday 24, Norman Lamont – Wave forms – gentle layers of sound;  Thursday 25, Ben Kearsley – Classical Guitar.

What are we doing when we pray?

THE nature of prayer was the subject of a fascinating conversation at the Festival of Spirituality and Peace in Scotland's capital earlier today. 

For many people prayer is effective in transforming people and attitudes, bringing us closer to God, to each other and to the loving purpose at the heart of the world. Other see it as contributing to the altering of events and outcomes through invoking divine action, while yet others think that the difference God makes is not best accounted for by 'interventionism'. There are as many views of prayer as there are people praying.

So when we pray for someone  - what are our expectations?  When people say ‘their prayers have been answered’ - what has happened? Is there any scientific evidence that 'prayer works' in some directly functional sense?   Is something that can be 'measured' going on, and in what sense is God involved?

Today, Jenny Williams and Anne Douglas of the Christian Fellowship of Healing discussed research into prayer, including projects they are currently running, in conversation with Jim Pym of the National Federation of Spiritual Healers (whose publication What Kind of God, What Kind of Healing? is now available).

The Christian Fellowship of Healing (Scotland) is an interdenominational organisation, "bound together by our commitment to offer a ministry of listening and healing prayer." It declares: "We are ordinary people and we believe that it is ordinary people Christ calls to be his instruments. We welcome people from all faiths or none to join us in our regular programme."

Walking in the light of peace

THE opening event and service for the 2011 Festival of Peace and Spirituality has begun this evening with some stirring choral music from South Africa and other parts of the world - reflecting the truly international flavour of the 6-29 August events it hosts.

Siyahamba is a South African hymn that became popular in churches across the globe in the wake of the struggle against apartheid in the 1980s. The title means "We Are Marching" or "We are Walking" in the Zulu language, and the key words are "We are marching in the light of God."

The chair of the Festival, the Very Rev Dr John Armes pointed out that as well as reaching the eleventh year of the Festival of Spirituality and Peace, this year's programme anticipates the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Standing alongside the victims of violence and inhumanity, people of all faiths and none are being encouragedto seek alternatives to a world of conflict and injustice, he said.

Among the special guests present were the Japanese and Norwegian consuls - whose countries have witnessed disaster and horror recently. A book of condolences for the families and friends of the victims of the Norway shootings is available for signing at St John's Church.