lent 19 - blessing

Well that's odd.  I spent all of yesterday at a Christian conference enjoying good worship and speakers and I found myself at the end of the day having not really heard anything in particular from God.

I heard what was said and sung, and I enjoyed it all and found the talks interesting and all the rest, I just didnt hear God saying anything to me in particular. He didnt draw my attention to anything, no nudges or prompts, no odd word associations or penny dropping moments.  Ironic eh?   I wonder if it was because in a situation where one sort of expects God to turn up and be there, it is easy to sit back and not be actively looking,seeking listening, questing and questioning?  I wonder if I just assumed God would serve me up something on a plate because I was in an overtly Christian environment?

The only note-worthy thing that happened was that I was given  presents ( it was my last day at my charity job).  One gift was a set of pastels.  From someone who knows that I want to be more creative with my life in coming days.   Another present was from a young lady with whom I have worked not terribly closely for the past year and who I dont really know very well.  She is a self confessed spiritualist who expresses wariness towards things Christian but finds herself attending a christian conference every year because she works for the charity that runs it !!  She gave me a leaving present which consisted of a card with the words of  Psalm 37:5 on the front of it and a mug with a verse on it about following your dreams and ' going for it'.   Which somehow seemed very apposite today. The thought that someone who did not believe what I believe would go out of their way to find a present which would express something of my faith back to me was very touching.  It would be like me buying something with a verse from the Quran on it for a Moslem friend - except that Id probably never do that.   So Im just sitting here trying to work out if there are parameters and 'rules' about being a blessing.  Or if, in order to be a blessing, it is sometimes ok or even necessary to go to places which make you feel uncomfortable or with which you downright disagree; as John Smith, biker preacher who died recently once said  ' It is more important to love than to be right.'