Forgive me Father for I have sinned, it has been nearly two weeks since my last entry. But I have been busy. I’m fronting up the advertising for the Kempsford Literary Festival. I’ve got my articles into local rags and stuff, posters are printed for starters and there are leaflets to get out. I’m designing the front of my next guitar project, a flamenco guitar which I hope to take to Seville with me sometime to learn from the horse’s mouth. And I got a new toon down for our “Average Sinners” project. What ? Average Sinners ? It’s just a name, Father, and I know He forgives all sinners, so, when he hears us sing I hope he’ll forgive us. What ? I’m not being flippant. I reckon the ol’ JC must have a sense of humour, Father, he made us in his image, and, well, you know, some of us look pretty wierd.
Hey, I’d just like to say that when I was a kid you guys scared the bejeezus outta me, if you see what I mean. All that Latin and crossing and scaring with Heaven ‘n’ Hell ‘n’ Limbo stuff. And the smoke. Oh, man, that smelt awful.
- image:christchurchnh.org
And I’ll admit, if I got 10 Hail Marys, then maybe I’d speed up over the last couple or so. A sort of “Hail Mary, Motheroffffzzzzzzzzzzzzgggggggggggggd” cross my heart and done. I was outta there. I reckoned God wouldn’t be too hard on a scared kid.
But, oh boy, it must have been tough for you. All those kids confessing that they stole their brothers toys. Oh man, I bet you longed for a bit of scandal. An indiscrete word here or there. “Father, I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus.” “10 Hail Marys and a Howzya Father.”
You don’t know this but here’s one for you, Father. When I was a kid you guys told us that if we missed Mass on Sunday our souls would turn black inside, entirely black, and would stay that way until we made it to confession. And if we died with a black soul we were doomed to Hell for eternity and no amount of praying by our friends and family would save us from that eternal damnation. But, Jesus, Father, – oh, sorry, – confession was Thursdays ! I was terrified Monday through Thursday morning. I kept my head DOWN.
Anyway, I gotta go. Got stuff to do an’all. You sure used to have some nice gold in here. Went to pay the gambling debts, huh? Only kidding. Do you still sing those hymns ? “I’ll bet you ten-to-one I can beat you at do-mi-noes….” They sound pretty serene to my ears nowadays. Oh, and Father, just between us, no harm done, huh, but it was close.
singlemaltmonkey 
great Al, i hereby absolve you of all sins, and encourage you to re-sin. . 🙂 continue…
Thank you, your Holiness……..
There was a lot of fear in me as a child, too, because of religion. (I took most things very personally then.) But I’m so glad I didn’t grow up Catholic. What guilt would I have placed on my own shoulders then? I shudder to think of that weight.
I would very much like Tony to absolve me of my sins, too… I like his encouragement. 🙂
I look back on the oppression, let me give it’s correct name, with a wiser and, yes, jaundiced eye, these days. I still resent some of the treatment I received from adults who I trusted and feared. I do think I was lucky not to get caught up in the sex abuse scandals that have come to light in recent years but I remember some boys who I still wonder about. I passed all my exams at junior level and should have gone on to Boarding School at a higher grade. I was lucky in that my parents allowed me to quit the religious system. That’s why I say at the end that it was close – I could have ended up in the system.
Poignant . . . I’m saddened that religious promulgation went Professional. I guess with all that money and vested interest sloshing about, it was inevitable.
RR
True. It’s largely just a power-play for some, now, I think.
Religion….so overrated 😛
Hey guess what! We’re having a Karachi Literary Festival too! I’m a-gonna go 😀
Will post pics.
(lovely to hear about the things you’ve been busy with)
Looking forward to the pics, Munira. I’ll post some here of the Kempsford one, too.
you make your own hell or someone trys for you smm never trust vicars priests or whoever they are trust yourself on whats a sin and what isnt no fireball will come crashing down on you lol be happy sorry havent been here for a while had a few health issues xxjen
Hey, Jen, you don’t have to apologise. Hope you’re feeling better now and thanks for stopping by and commenting. Those in charge sure had us kids scared sometimes.