No, it's not the leadline in some cheesy Christmas cracker joke, it's a serious question!
I mean...we recieved a sheet last night from the 'Festivals Group' entitled "Advent Program" and the picture on the front featured a gnome holding some crystals, whilst a sultry-looking mermaid with green hair looks on from the sea shore and a sinister looking orange lizard crawls towards them.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS eh?
Don't get me wrong, I am always keen on something a little different from the usual penguininawoolyhat motif, but GNOMES....HOLDING CRYSTALS.....I ask you!
The only reason I am not having panic attacks and palpatations right now (and we've been there - believe me) is because we've made the decision that enough's enough and we're going to leave, as soon as possible!
Friday, 27 November 2009
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
"We want to make sure you celebrate Christmas the way we want you to!"
Bearing in mind that when we joined this community, the emphasis was on the democratic nature of the organisation and the fact that everyone here is an equal, the following comments (by influential members of the community) came as rather a surprise to us:
a) *look of disgusted incredulity* "You're Roman Catholic? You do know how important reincarnation is to us, don't you?"
b) *stern and menacing glare* "We just want to make sure that you - (that's me, my wife and our two small children by the way) - celebrate Christmas the way that we want you to."
c) *look of patronising pity* (on the subject of our four year old boy watching a CBeebies DVD), "You just need to gradually cut down on it, so that he doesn't watch anything anymore" (NB TV is banned here!).
d) *hands-on-hips disciplinarian stance* (on the occasion of being 'caught' listening to music on our house whilst washing up afte klunch): "We don't listen to recorded music here except as a special treat on special occasions."
By the way, I'm thirty years old and before I came here, I had held down a very responsible job for eight years, owned my own home for ten years and raised two wonderful children, but apparently I obviously needed to be put right about a few things didn't I.
Well, that was me told!
a) *look of disgusted incredulity* "You're Roman Catholic? You do know how important reincarnation is to us, don't you?"
b) *stern and menacing glare* "We just want to make sure that you - (that's me, my wife and our two small children by the way) - celebrate Christmas the way that we want you to."
c) *look of patronising pity* (on the subject of our four year old boy watching a CBeebies DVD), "You just need to gradually cut down on it, so that he doesn't watch anything anymore" (NB TV is banned here!).
d) *hands-on-hips disciplinarian stance* (on the occasion of being 'caught' listening to music on our house whilst washing up afte klunch): "We don't listen to recorded music here except as a special treat on special occasions."
By the way, I'm thirty years old and before I came here, I had held down a very responsible job for eight years, owned my own home for ten years and raised two wonderful children, but apparently I obviously needed to be put right about a few things didn't I.
Well, that was me told!
Saturday, 14 November 2009
Allow me to elaborate!
I think it's best to start at the begining.
I have always been a committed Christian, and - after years of being a slave to society's make money-get into debt (mortgage)-make more money-get promotion-have less time - began to wonder just what I was dsupposed to be doing on this planet. It's easy to say your a Christian, but to actually live like one is another matter.
Anyway, I was pondering this very question whilst sitting in church last Ash Wednesday (yeah, that's the one where we get ashes smeared on our foreheads and spen the rest of the day trying to explain to people that we haven't got 'a bit of mud' on our heads!), when - out of the blue - a word entered my head. I can't really tell you what the word was because that is where I'm living right now and life could become even more mental if I let the cat out of the bag here! But, getting back to the story, there was no mistaking the strange nature of this occurence. This place was, sort of, known to me before, but I hadn't thought about it for years. There was only, therefore, one explanation for it (religious nut alert!), GOD HAD SPOKEN TO ME!!
I have always been a committed Christian, and - after years of being a slave to society's make money-get into debt (mortgage)-make more money-get promotion-have less time - began to wonder just what I was dsupposed to be doing on this planet. It's easy to say your a Christian, but to actually live like one is another matter.
Anyway, I was pondering this very question whilst sitting in church last Ash Wednesday (yeah, that's the one where we get ashes smeared on our foreheads and spen the rest of the day trying to explain to people that we haven't got 'a bit of mud' on our heads!), when - out of the blue - a word entered my head. I can't really tell you what the word was because that is where I'm living right now and life could become even more mental if I let the cat out of the bag here! But, getting back to the story, there was no mistaking the strange nature of this occurence. This place was, sort of, known to me before, but I hadn't thought about it for years. There was only, therefore, one explanation for it (religious nut alert!), GOD HAD SPOKEN TO ME!!
Thursday, 12 November 2009
"...it's like living on the set of The Wicker Man"
Right.
First off, I want to make one thing straight.
I am not a religious nut.
I mean, yes I'm a committed Christian (Roman Catholic), and yes I felt called by God to join an isolated community of Christians who's main idea of a good time is wearing capes and dancing round a big fire singing songs to the stars....er...crap...I'm not really doing a great job of convincing you of my secular sanity am I?....but I'm not a Religious nut honest!!!
Honest I'm not!
Anyway, the main purpose of this blog is to determine people's opinions on the cult/non-cult status of my current living arrangement.
To kick things off then, have you seen the 1970's film with Edward Woodward as a copper on a scary island wear they burn human sacrifices alive in big Wicker Men? That's my village that is!
First off, I want to make one thing straight.
I am not a religious nut.
I mean, yes I'm a committed Christian (Roman Catholic), and yes I felt called by God to join an isolated community of Christians who's main idea of a good time is wearing capes and dancing round a big fire singing songs to the stars....er...crap...I'm not really doing a great job of convincing you of my secular sanity am I?....but I'm not a Religious nut honest!!!
Honest I'm not!
Anyway, the main purpose of this blog is to determine people's opinions on the cult/non-cult status of my current living arrangement.
To kick things off then, have you seen the 1970's film with Edward Woodward as a copper on a scary island wear they burn human sacrifices alive in big Wicker Men? That's my village that is!
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