text: There and Back Again
  
  It’s almost surreal to think that just seven days ago, I was plonked into Fall weather–grey skies, weather that demanded three layers to shield from a nip in the air and a biting wind–and then, in a blink of seven hours, was whisked back into the humid tropics, though tonight is cool and breezy by equatorial standards.
  
  Cue in music from Wagner's Twilight of the Gods (Götterdämmerung)
  
  The Hillsong experience is, by definition, a heady mix of inspirational messages bookended by high-energy Christian contemporary music, graphics and videos that work like a booster shot to one’s own creative fuel. Add in the spiritual element, and you get a powerhouse of a conference that basically rockets you into the stratosphere where dreams and visions collide like meteors in an asteroid belt.
  (See what I mean?)
  
  Some personal discoveries (it’s a Top Five again, dear readers):
  # 5: I will work on developing a private cry–the heart’s desire–in God’s presence that I can then take into the presence of others as we enter into worship together.
  #4: I learned that even if it’s old news, the people around you need reminders that they are important in God’s eyes on a regular basis. The chatter and clatter of the real and the virtual worlds dulls and lulls us into a state of somnolence that only the Word, spoken with energy and passion that is led by the Spirit, makes our sleepy souls rise up in the light and wonder of His promises.
  
  No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory. (Isaiah 60:19)
  
  #3: This list is going to stop right here. There’s much to process and the real world beckons.