A bit of a different day today - because I ended up in church - which is not a place I frequent, nor do many people in Finland. However, when there are special events like weddings, Lutherans come out of the woodwork and do their duty. There is a wedding next week, but today's "festivities" were for my wife's nephew's confirmation - which is something that happens around when they turn fifteen years of age. They go away to a camp for a week, test them for purity or something and if they pass, they get the right to eat wafers and drink wine.
Since I am a heathen, I eat and drink all the wafers and wine I want.
And it shows.
I was asked to take some family photos after the ceremony (which are not pictured here), but since the ceremony takes about an hour and a half and is filled with prayers, godparents, and communal singing in Finnish with priests playing the guitar - I quickly got bored and took some other photos instead.
The church was quite new and modern and like most Finnish churches, not overly ostentatious, using a lot of natural materials sourced locally - Red brick, local woods and granite floors. They are far less gaudy than what is found in a lot of catholic countries and there is very little gilt, if any, to be seen.
There is plenty of guilt still.
Because we are all born sinners.
Though, in general, this isn't the focus in Finland, because most are occasionally religious at best and only when it suits them. This means that a lot of the baggage that comes along with religion is not taken personally.
I think that the reason most people still go through this, is in order to have the option of a church wedding for free in the future. However, after that, a lot of people are actually resigning from the church, because Finns are pragmatic for the most part and don't want to pay the taxes.
They did "pass around the hat" down the aisles for people to pay tithe if they choose and since this is 2022, they also put a MobilePay account number up on the big screen, since not many people carry cash these days. I wonder out of all the people who took a shot of the screen, how many will actually transfer anything later.
But, there are traditions in place and they dress accordingly, with the white robes of apprentice magicians and white pumps to match.
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This was the first time Smallsteps was in a church and she was pretty excited at first - and then pretty bored after about 30 minutes in. However, to her credit, she was able to hide it well and didn't complain about how long it was taking. She also sang along to the songs that she didn't know the words to, in a show of solidarity.
Really though, she just likes any occasion where she gets her nails painted and gets to wear a nice dress.
I don't know if she will do this herself in nine years, but here they do still have "religion classes" at all schools, or alternatives for the heathen children born to heathen parents. I actually have no issue with her learning about this at school, because at home she will be indoctrinated into the Church of Crypto and Decentralization anyway.
My wife said that she enjoyed the camp stuff they had and,
who doesn't like a party?
After the ceremony (and the family photoshoot), we went back to my sister-in-law's home for lunch and cake, which is of course the best part of any celebration. However, what I was a bit surprised by (no photos of this here) was that one of the priests and a handful of the "mentor" kids from the camp dropped by to sing a couple songs for us. They had a couple of groups driving all over the city doing this for the forty-odd kids who attended. I don't know if they always do this, but it would have been a busy day for them.
Well, while not a fan of religion, they do know how to convince people to get out of their trackpants and throw on an ill-fitting suit or a dress. And, as is the normal case in Finland at all of these events, the spectrum of attire is always a highlight, with everyone dressed in their best, with "the best" being highly variable based on taste and background. I like this - it makes it all far more "free" in the sense that people can be who they choose to be, without having to fit into a very tight mold of society.
No wonder they only go to church when they want.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
