Seeking Elle from Escort Centre – Collecting Rain Water at Ripon Cathedral
One night, I went to Ripon Cathedral and prayed to Father God because I wanted to see Elle from Escort Centre again. My hope was that I would see Elle at the Harvest Festival.
While I was outside the cathedral, I experienced what I understood at the time to be the voice of Father God telling me to collect rain water.
So I started collecting the rain.
I used an upside-down umbrella to catch the falling water and then collected it in a water bottle. It was an unusual thing to be doing outside Ripon Cathedral at night, but to me the water had become connected with my hope of seeing Elle again.
As I collected the rain water, I heard music playing from inside the cathedral.
Then something else caught my attention. The lights set into the floor appeared to illuminate one after another, moving from left to right.
During the experience, I also heard what sounded to me like the voices of reporters asking why I was collecting rain water.
I continued until the final light on the floor illuminated. At that point, the music inside the cathedral stopped.
I then experienced the voice I associated with Father God telling me that I should have enough water.
Why I Was Collecting the Water
For me, the experience wasn’t really about rain water. It was about Elle.
I wanted to see her again, and at that point in my life I believed collecting the water was connected to my prayer and my hope that I would meet Elle at the Harvest Festival.
Ultimately, I did not see Elle again as I had hoped.
Looking back, the night at Ripon Cathedral remains a strange and memorable personal experience: standing outside at night, collecting rain in an upside-down umbrella and a bottle, hearing music and voices, watching the lights, and hoping that somehow it would lead me back to someone I wanted to see again.
Whether those experiences had an external explanation or reflected how I interpreted events at the time, this is how I remember that night and what it meant to me.
