We Are All Wimps

 compared to Mary. They told us in the church that she had to travel 140 km on foot to Bethlehem, while being nearly 9 months pregnant. I do remember in some movie (Nativity Story?) they showed her on a donkey, but still, I doubt the journey would be very comfortable. And then they had to sleep in a stable, too. Somehow I can't imagine a modern Western woman doing anything similar, and then without moaning and complaining:) But then, how many men would be up to the task, either?

Modern civilisation has spoiled us all rotten, I guess...

Merry Christmas Everyone!

 And all glory to God

 

We always sing it standing after the Christmas sermon. This year we aren't allowed to sing in church, due to corona virus. We have two soloists who do all the singing. And yet, after a couple of lines, everybody joined in. They weren't singing very hard, just under their noses, but still - singing! I had tears in my eyes. It felt like a statement. So many begrudge Christians coming together in these times, but here we were, united in our act of worship. And it was beautiful.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

(For the scrooges among us, we were with less than 30 people and they opened all the doors in the end for better ventilation).

A Feel-Good Christmas Eve Post

 Canadians invent a new sport: deer curling:)

There Is More Support For Homemakers Than You Think

 Even in Sweden:

 "half of 9,000 surveyed women said they wanted to become housewifes if they had the chance, but 7/10 said society shouldn't accept this"

Cognitive dissonance much?:)

The 4th Sunday Of Advent

 

My Thoughts On Corona Virus

 Is corona virus a conspiracy? I don't think so. It definitely exists. I also don't believe "it's just a flu" or "it's just a cold". That is, the virus is tricky. For many people, especially young healthy ones, it IS just a cold. For others, it's more like a (heavy) flu. For the elderly and sick, it can be deadly.

Do the government measures and lockdowns really help? It depends. There is nothing wrong with keeping distance, not hugging strangers and washing your hands regularly. As for lockdowns, we all know by now that the majority of cases are in the educational system and in healthcare. Nursing homes and social workers going from house to house definitely add to the spread, and children, while not being sick themselves, can spread it, too. 

One of my husband's colleagues, for instance, got it from his son, who in turn, got it from his minor school-going kids. The colleague is back to work now but still very tired and not able to work full time. I should add that he is in his sixties and a smoker, though.

Personally I don't believe that the virus really spreads through the stores. Like in our town we have many small shops with regular customers and yet none of the owners got sick. Big supermarkets which are always busy also don't seem to have any problems, either; so closing all non-essential businesses looks rather disproportional to me, especially the manner in which it was done, without any warning, just like that. 

Do the masks help? Several months ago we were told no, then suddenly it became yes. I think keeping your distance makes much more sense. 

People continue asking why would the government do it? Is it a great reset? Do they want to take our freedoms away? I think many governments across the world are simply scared. Let's be honest, an average Western country has about 20% of the population above 65 plus many with chronic diseases. Someone estimated that about 1/3 of  Dutch population falls into a risk group. All these people have family who vote. You get my point?

So I guess they have to act and do something. On the other hand, the MSM-created paranoia about the situation isn't really helpful. Yes, if you don't lock yourself at home, you take a risk. Even a young healthy person could get very sick and even die. But living in constant fear will mentally destroy you. And not all of us can afford to shelter. Some have to go to work every day (not everybody is an office worker), some have small children, elderly relatives, we need to buy food etc etc.

I mean, imagine if during war people who work in a factory were told every day that the enemy could bomb them any minute and then they all would die. How many would even show to work? This constant fear-mongering is extremely bad for mental health and general morale and I wonder that so many government officials seem not to understand it. 

About closing of churches, I guess you know my opinion already:) Luckily, we still have a Constitution which protects our freedoms though some appear to resent it. It has been a crazy year so far and I guess we are all tired. I know I am. I'm still looking forward to going to church on Christmas Day and celebrating with a couple of relatives.

Least but not last, about the vaccine. If people feel safer with it, of course, they should take it. On the other hand, there are all sorts of info about side effects going around, including infertility. Personally I will first wait and see. What about you?

Lockdown N2

 As of today we are officially in a new lockdown. Schools are closed till mid-January. All "non-essential" stores are closed, too, something they didn't even do the first time; the dentist is open, though, which was not the case then. 

We had to follow the great leader Germany, of course, but at least Mother Merkel gave her subjects an extra day for their Christmas shopping. Here most stores got closed at midnight Monday on Tuesday. My husband still managed to get a haircut, otherwise I would have had to do it. Actually I have been doing it since March but the results were never entirely to my satisfaction, lol!

He also managed to get us a Christmas tree ( a big department store was giving them away for free) and visit his shooting range, and I bought Christmas cards and some kitchen stuff. There was a lot of uncertainty yesterday. Flower and plant stores were allowed to sell their produce outside, so many did just that. Christmas trees apparently fall under the same category so maybe, they'll start seling them again, but we saved 22 euroes:)

Some stores which carry a broad range of products just covered half of their stuff. Action was closed yesterday, but opened today. Nearby supermarket ran out of toilet paper (yes, this idiotic behaviour started again and canned tomatoes were also rather scarce), so they right away announced sale on it. (Action is a German chain store which sells everything from cookies and aspirin to paint and antifreeze. Antifreeze was deemed essential, paint not).

Just got an email from a Do-It-Yourself store saying they are also busy making themselves essential:) I guess lockdown lovers of which we have many are fainting right now. For them it's never strict enough. Also local heathens were collectively frothing at their mouths because churches (and mosques) were allowed to stay open. 

Some did close on their own, though, haven't heard anything from ours yet. There was a lively discussion on the topic. Someone said, why does it matter to you, you don't go there, and you won't get sick and the other answered that these church women all work in nursing homes and will infect his Grandma whom he loves dearly.

That's not often that I would say it, but seriously, to anyone who thinks like this, F**k you! A church woman isn't obliged to take care of your family, if you love them so much, f***ing take them home and change their diapers yourself. Most of Southern and Eastern Europe don't even have nursing homes and yes, their women would quit working and lose the income to take care of their loved ones. Heard it first hand from my Southern Euro neighbour. (End of the rant).

Enfin, at least we are still allowed to leave our house whenever we want unlike those poor Frenchies:) And hotels are open, too, though restaurants will stay closed. Ah, there is always a Chinese takeaway, I guess...

Is Yoga Heathen?

 Greek Orthodox Church (and some others) think so: 

Downward dog, sun salutations and all other yoga practices are "absolutely incompatible" with the Christian faith, the powerful Greek Orthodox Church has said.

Yoga has no place "in the life of Christians," the governing body of the Church has ruled.

It said it intervened after Greek media recommended yoga as a way to combat stress during coronavirus quarantine.

Other religions have also advised against the practice in the past.

I would agree about spiritual stuff and meditations, but I also heard one preacher explain that most of what passes for "yoga" nowadays in the West are actually physical exercises developed by Lutheran missionaries in India in the 19th century for the soldiers to keep fit and they have very little to do with Hinduism thus we are free to practice them.

What do you think?

Of All The Weird Things...

 I've seen lately, this one takes the cake:

Wine for dogs:)))

But not allowed for puppies under 3 months, lol!

The Undomestic Goddess

 A book review.

The Undomestic Goddess is a  book by Sophie Kinsella, a British author famous for her Shopacolic series. It first came out in 2005 but I only read it last week. 

It tells us a story of an ambitious young career woman, a lawyer working for one of the most prestigious City firms Carter Spink whose only dream is to become a full partner there (I think that's how it's called in English since I only read a Dutch translation). On the first sight, Samantha Sweeting should be an object of everyone's envy. She's only 29 but is already well know for her talents, earns huge salary etc etc. 

Yet, the author shows her as entirely miserable. She lives in a trashed up apartment, eats alternatively a Chinese takeaway or pizza and doesn't even have time to visit a beauty parlour. She has to work overtime, never takes a vacation, has no hobbies and only one old school friend. Her family don't care for her, either. They don't even bother to come to her birthday party. Her mother is a typical bitter divorced career woman who hates men and have pushed Samantha to "make something out of herself"  since she was a little kid.

It's hardly surprising then that she's close to a nervous breakdown which promptly happens when she discovers that she made a mistake which will cost her company lots of money, and that on the day of her promotion, too! While the colleagues are popping champagne, Samantha literally runs away, catches a train to the middle of nowhere, gets drunk and ends up in the house of a wealthy but not very bright middle-aged Geiger family who think her to be their new housekeeper and are delighted she isn't at least, a foreigner and speaks their language.

When Samantha gets sober, she somehow decides to take up the challenge and stay, though she hardly even knows how to cook an egg, or start a washing machine. Luckily, the Geigers have a very handsome muscular gardener working for them whose mother is an experienced cook. This is only the beginning of a romance, as you well understand, but then Samantha finds a chance to clear her name and get her old life back. Will she do it or not?

The book doesn't pretend to be serious, but the message is quite clear. Housekeeping IS a real job which takes commitment, running the house can be more satisfying than having a high powered career, having friends who really care for you is more important than making lots of money, etc. 

I was pleasantly surprised that we still have modern fashionable authors defending more or less traditional values. However, there is one serious drawback, that is rather typical for modern literature which isn't explicitly Christian: a casual and flippant attitude to s*x with some rather graphic descriptions, too. While the characters are talking of love, the word "marriage" isn't even mentioned, though probably hinted at. 

So would I recommend it? Yes and no. Read it at your own discretion!

Men VS Women

 About half of the women (49%) don't trust Covid vaccine vs only 1/3 (31%) of the men. Source. 

Please meninists tell me again how all women are compliant Karens and rule enforcers while men are rugged individuals and free spirited rebels? Who is the captain now???

Something about the beam and the mote comes to mind:)

Everything What's Wrong With Modern Women

 In one picture.

How To Have A Chaste Courtship

This book was written specially for young Catholics, but would probably be of interest to other Christians as well. It's quite vintage (I think 1930s-40s, judging by the fact that movie theaters and driving around for fun are mentioned, but TV is not) but I heard it's still recommended in more trad Catholic circles even though some parts of it could possibly offend modern sensibilities.

It goes into great detail about dangers of s*xual sin, while the last chapter is all about choosing a mate. I guess the idea of never marrying outside the Catholic faith could be offensive to some, but if you extrapolate it to never marrying unbelievers, you'll realise that the author isn't really that far from the truth.

This is an interesting piece of advice: 

Refrain from  beginning to keep regular company too soon. If you begin to do so at sixteen or seventeen years, you expose yourself either to the danger of a premature marriage with its frequent mistake of poor choice or you court the hardly lesser evil of an immoderately long courtship with the attendant disadvantages. You tie yourself down to one person and thus lose the social advantages and contacts that will have a great influence upon your later life. You expose yourself in a special way to temptations against chastity, because this love affair may be a very prolonged one, and the danger of violating chastity increases as the affection is prolonged.

 If you begin “to go steady” while you are a student, you will find it almost impossible to do justice to your studies. Since courtship limits your interest to a single person, it should not be undertaken until you are in a  position seriously to consider marriage in the not too distant future. This presupposes that you have attained the age to understand the great responsibilities of marriage and that you have enough financial resources to establish and maintain a home.

It goes contrary to what some Christians online teach about every young girl needing to marry at 18, doesn't it? 

 Marrying in haste nearly always means repenting bitterly at leisure. Do not prefer to be sorry to being certain. 

(emphasis mine)