I am a girl. I am 23 years old but I feel about 8 years old. I like pretty things. I live in Wales by the sea, it is beautiful here. I have long hair. I am interested in religion, political philosophy (so long as there is no practical application and it is entirely abstract speculation :p), folklore and customs, pre-modern history, languages and music. Religiously I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
That said I am not actually a Christian yet because I have never been baptised, and it seems like it will be a long time before I am actually in a position for that to change. Yay baptised! I am at university studying history. I have decided I will only marry the man who can, without touching me prior to our wedding day, escort me from Helsinki to Ulaan Baatar, on foot, without any kind of wussy GPS or mobile phones or any of that kind of cheating. This will probably never happen, in which case I might try and buy a windmill or a lighthouse to live in with several cats.
I like ribbons. I wish I knew how to work a sewing machine.
12 Comments
Helsinki to Ulaan Baatar, on foot…? It would surely kill both you and any intended suitor.
Even Hilaire Belloc’s long distance walks didn’t really get much further than the Alps to Rome (and that one got pretty hairy at one point)
I just saw this and thought of such a truly Khrushchevian hare-brained scheme (or, if you prefer, latter day attempt to set the kind of challenges given a suitor in the song “Scarborough Fair”) ….
http://xkcd.com/77/
Overland: part hitchhiking, part train, yes, part walking, it could be done (and could be quite a very memorable and fulfilling adventure) ; and I spit on the thought of using GPS. Why is that necessary when one has a compass in daytime and the stars at night? Seriously.
Had you a companion who spoke Russian (and could read Cyrillic in Mongolia), and who could say “Mina rakastan sinua: umartaa?” (“I love you. Do you understand?”), and nothing else, in Finnish, I would say, go for it.
Coward. :p
Fascinating. I have linked to this blog. Is that okay?
Yeah its fine. But if too many people actually start reading my inane scrawlings I will probably turn it private out of embarrassment like I did all my other blogs XD.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
Hold steady in thy faith!
The Giver of Life, One True Father, Bringer of Life and All Round Good Guy That is God sees all!
He is sure to fulfil your dreams by delivering miraculous ribbon sewing aptitude.
Then again, probably not.
So why not accept your DNA as proof positive of a billion year evolution from primordial soup?
Then sign up for a sewing course at the local edifice of worship (a Welsh tech college) – provided by the real mysterious power in your life. Namely the rather mundane local council.
I suspect you’d be much happier.
And you could leave all the hand-wringing, Latin-tinged angst and navel gazing behind.
If that’s not an option, dump your current faith and hop on board one of the other 40-or so major and minor world faiths/religions.
Why, with another 40 years of good living ahead, you could probably cover all the bases.
They definitely can’t all be right.
Who knows, one of the god bothering bunch of brainwashers might even be right!
May the Force be with you.
1. I don’t expect God to magically make me able to sew. What would be the point, what would I learn from that?
2. I assure you angst, handwringing and naval gazing have been staples in my life long before I “found religion”. If there has been one constant in my life from age 9 onward it has been angst and naval gazing.
3. Dropping a perfectly good religion for some unknown other one, seems… a little mad to me. Especially since I think the one I found is true.
Hi Sophia,
Just out of curiosity, what is holding you back/preventing from getting baptized? I gather from your book list that you are planning on becoming Orthodox – are there just no priests near you? Also, how did you decide between Orthodoxy and Catholicism?
What is holding me back? I am not held back… I am just not finished in the process of getting from A to B yet :p
Whenever the priest says I am ready I will jump at the opportunity.
How did I decide… with agonising difficulty?
I dunno… its one of those kind of things where it’s not exactly easy to explain.
Thanks for commenting on my blog
Congratulations on your baptism! May God grant you many years.
I found your blog while looking for info on ssh-ing in to my server using my Blackberry, since that is such an elegant solution for long-distance ultra-light backpackers who still want to check email securely.
Now, let’s see. Helsinki to Ulaan Baatar is 5600 km or so. 35 km per day is not an unreasonable average, so that should take roughly 160 days to walk. (Call it an even 180 to allow for illness, sight-seeing, and immigration hassles.) I know enough Russian to avoid getting lost either on the road or in the Liturgy, and English is widely spoken in Finland.
That’s awesome,.