morning in latvia
He was going to write this in English as the keyboard he was currently using had none of the Swedish special characters. He had landed in Latvia, tired but pleased. As soon as he went to Riga, his spiritual awareness increased. It was as if he thought clearer there, thought with more preciseness and without emotional tosses and turns. There was something in the air perhaps, or it had just become synonymous with tranquility and peace at heart. In either case, it was a place to think and to make decisions, a place to be for change. The first time he had come, it had been enough to make him quit his job and start his own business. The second time, he had been here purely on business, and that one didn't count, but this was the third time, and he was going to try to think about his charity work, and how to organize it.
The people were as usually nice, but it wasn't the same without Patrik and his family. They were the natural connection. In one sense it was better, he felt more free this way, having a room to himself in the cadet house located on the top floor of Riga Two, or more properly, the 2nd Corps of the Divisional Command of Latvia, under the Regional Territory of Sweden and Latvia in the Salvation Army.
He liked Salvationists. It was a church where everyone really was welcome. Big, small, old, young, tall, short, rich, poor, fair, foul and all that. In Sweden, TSA (The Salvation Army) was mostly known for its old men and women playing dainty songs and collecting money for the poor. Yet few had bad things to say about them, since they, in contrast with 90% of most churches, did more than just worship - TSA was a church that took action. It did something. And in other countries, outside of Sweden (Scandinavia perhaps?), it wasn't just old people singing. In fact, it was quite a few young ones too. From what he had seen of it in Sweden, Latvia, England and the US, it consisted of every age group, and did all kinds of things. And in Latvia, where Patrik had been in charge of the youth group (everyone under 40 pretty much), it was christian rock music and ballads and very few psalms.
Yet, as usual, it had what to him was drawbacks, which means he couldn't feel comfortable joining it. He was uncomfortable with churches that were evangelical because of their dogmatic beliefs regarding abortion, homosexuals and sex before marriage. He could understand their arguments, just not agree with them at all. And he liked being able to have a drink every now and then, which was a big no-no for Salvationists, having sprung from the abolitionst movement in England. And on top of that, he wasn't himself the greatest charity worker hands-on. He was the guy organising charity work, fundraising for it, but practical was hardly his middle name.
He was too mainstream and too science-based, and way too inclusive of other faiths, seeing his belief as one way to understand the important message that Life is Love and that we are borrowing this time on Earth to make a difference. In our own lives, first and foremost, but also in others by how we treat them. Whether itš just our friends or strangers too. And then he preferred the company of GOOD people, be they Christians, witches, thelemites, moslems or atheists. As long as they respected others, kept their words, did good things and avoided manipulative and selfish behaviour, he admired them.
Faith was very very personal to him. He had a really hard time talking about his faith to others, and stuttered out his answers as if he wasn't sure what he believed. He was sure, he just didn't know how to talk about it. Partly because he was the Chameleon, not used to having people ask what he really thought himself, only reflect themselves in him. That was of course impossible with faith. It was bigger than just reflecting what others believed. So most of the time he kept his mouth shut, especially since a lot of his friends were diehard atheists. He didn't see his faith as something that limited his life, or that made him less of a person, but the other way around. It was a fuel, a source of energy that could take away pain when he needed to, and that could fuel him to greater deeds when he was strong. Something that never failed. A love so powerful it was always true and never abandoned. It was, of course, that 'feeling' that Christians always seemed to have some basic security. He himself was too new in faith to always have it, but it was there, whenever he looked for it, it was there. And they are. Those that truly do believe have that sense of security, that they are loved for who they are. No matter what they look like, no matter what they do, they are loved. Always and by Life itself, personally. But other than that, his Faith was nothing more than a personal feeling, something that was inside of him. He wanted a normal life like everyone else. Work, house, laugh, party, drink and be happy. Without being a missionary or a preacher. Possibly a fundraiser, and not just for Christian purposes. His calling was to help people, not Christians. And be just a normal guy with good views on life, and a solid outlook.
But Riga wasn't the same without Patrik and his family of course. The memory of what it was, was better than what it was, so to speak. Even though his friends here were nice, great people. He just had less in common with them than he used to. But today, he would have some time to himself to try to figure out his attempt at making the world a better place. A work that would hopefully one day, when he was financially set to do so, be the main work of his life, but for now was just going to be something to practice with, something small to start out with.
First of all was the weekend at the end of October when he was going to call on those who could to come help a monk build his monastery by clearing out some land by picking up stones and dead tree branches. It all had to be organized. So in that sense, it was good to be in that place where he always thought clearer.
But he longed home as well, missing people. Missing home. And his new car :P
The people were as usually nice, but it wasn't the same without Patrik and his family. They were the natural connection. In one sense it was better, he felt more free this way, having a room to himself in the cadet house located on the top floor of Riga Two, or more properly, the 2nd Corps of the Divisional Command of Latvia, under the Regional Territory of Sweden and Latvia in the Salvation Army.
He liked Salvationists. It was a church where everyone really was welcome. Big, small, old, young, tall, short, rich, poor, fair, foul and all that. In Sweden, TSA (The Salvation Army) was mostly known for its old men and women playing dainty songs and collecting money for the poor. Yet few had bad things to say about them, since they, in contrast with 90% of most churches, did more than just worship - TSA was a church that took action. It did something. And in other countries, outside of Sweden (Scandinavia perhaps?), it wasn't just old people singing. In fact, it was quite a few young ones too. From what he had seen of it in Sweden, Latvia, England and the US, it consisted of every age group, and did all kinds of things. And in Latvia, where Patrik had been in charge of the youth group (everyone under 40 pretty much), it was christian rock music and ballads and very few psalms.
Yet, as usual, it had what to him was drawbacks, which means he couldn't feel comfortable joining it. He was uncomfortable with churches that were evangelical because of their dogmatic beliefs regarding abortion, homosexuals and sex before marriage. He could understand their arguments, just not agree with them at all. And he liked being able to have a drink every now and then, which was a big no-no for Salvationists, having sprung from the abolitionst movement in England. And on top of that, he wasn't himself the greatest charity worker hands-on. He was the guy organising charity work, fundraising for it, but practical was hardly his middle name.
He was too mainstream and too science-based, and way too inclusive of other faiths, seeing his belief as one way to understand the important message that Life is Love and that we are borrowing this time on Earth to make a difference. In our own lives, first and foremost, but also in others by how we treat them. Whether itš just our friends or strangers too. And then he preferred the company of GOOD people, be they Christians, witches, thelemites, moslems or atheists. As long as they respected others, kept their words, did good things and avoided manipulative and selfish behaviour, he admired them.
Faith was very very personal to him. He had a really hard time talking about his faith to others, and stuttered out his answers as if he wasn't sure what he believed. He was sure, he just didn't know how to talk about it. Partly because he was the Chameleon, not used to having people ask what he really thought himself, only reflect themselves in him. That was of course impossible with faith. It was bigger than just reflecting what others believed. So most of the time he kept his mouth shut, especially since a lot of his friends were diehard atheists. He didn't see his faith as something that limited his life, or that made him less of a person, but the other way around. It was a fuel, a source of energy that could take away pain when he needed to, and that could fuel him to greater deeds when he was strong. Something that never failed. A love so powerful it was always true and never abandoned. It was, of course, that 'feeling' that Christians always seemed to have some basic security. He himself was too new in faith to always have it, but it was there, whenever he looked for it, it was there. And they are. Those that truly do believe have that sense of security, that they are loved for who they are. No matter what they look like, no matter what they do, they are loved. Always and by Life itself, personally. But other than that, his Faith was nothing more than a personal feeling, something that was inside of him. He wanted a normal life like everyone else. Work, house, laugh, party, drink and be happy. Without being a missionary or a preacher. Possibly a fundraiser, and not just for Christian purposes. His calling was to help people, not Christians. And be just a normal guy with good views on life, and a solid outlook.
But Riga wasn't the same without Patrik and his family of course. The memory of what it was, was better than what it was, so to speak. Even though his friends here were nice, great people. He just had less in common with them than he used to. But today, he would have some time to himself to try to figure out his attempt at making the world a better place. A work that would hopefully one day, when he was financially set to do so, be the main work of his life, but for now was just going to be something to practice with, something small to start out with.
First of all was the weekend at the end of October when he was going to call on those who could to come help a monk build his monastery by clearing out some land by picking up stones and dead tree branches. It all had to be organized. So in that sense, it was good to be in that place where he always thought clearer.
But he longed home as well, missing people. Missing home. And his new car :P
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