Day Seventy-two
The main thing that puts me off church, apart from the God stuff, is the singing. The awkward group mass mumbling of hymns, where only the odd dedicated few seem to vaguely know the tune, whilst the rest keep their head down and try to get through it.
Things are different at the Atheist Church, which is an obvious contradiction in terms. Instead of dreary old religious numbers, we sang pop hits like I Will Survive and Holding Out for Hero. This however didn’t stop my usual awkward feeling when it comes to group singing, despite the old granny bopping along next to me, I didn’t quite have the confidence to belt the words out.
The Sunday Assembly is a Godless congregation who aim to celebrate life. They’re attempting to help everyone find and fulfil their potential. There was tea and cake, just like in a real church. There was moments of reflection, a bit like praying in a real church, even a children’s play area, and not a pervy vicar in sight like in a real church. I quite enjoyed it and found the optimism infectious.
The guest speaker for the morning talked about Brunel building a Victorian tunnel under the Thames. He spoke of how it kept flooding during the construction and was only complete due to human PERSEVERANCE. Later in the day two other people, in separate conversations, used the word PERSEVERANCE. I found this a little odd, a day after deciding to preserve with my challenge – I thought perhaps this was a sign from God telling me everything will be alright, but then I remembered I’d just been told there is no God. Oh well…a little weird though, no?
I have never... 