Eileen Reminisces - Post 999

We just have the one post to go to reach 1,000 blog posts of life in this little enclave of spirituality within the Beds - Milton Keynes borders. And it's at times like this you look back and remember the good times.
So I've done that. Took a moment or two. But I think back to a time before the first of these blog posts - and indeed before the other posts that took place before even then.

It was the conflation of three events that really gave the Beaker Folk their impetus. These events were a talk on Celtic Christianity at which it became quite clear the entire thing was composed of wishful thinking and fake history; a service in which instant ambience was created by the liberal application of pebbles and tea lights to an otherwise innocent altar; and an evensong in the style of an Eastern church on the occasion of the feast day of, I seem to remember, St Ephraim the Syrian. I remember the way that the first and second  received widespread acceptance and approval in the little group with whom I was associated; while the other, for all its authenticity and earnest fidelity to a tradition, was regarded by some as beyond the pale of acceptable worship.

Well, naturally I realised the lesson to be drawn here. If I were to attract the well-meaning, bumbling and generally lucrative to my little community, I would rigorously have to eschew all genuine meaning, authentic expressions of historical traditions and moral insight. These would only cause division and trouble. Instead, I would look for instant experiences, fuzzy feelings and satisfying the need to be wanted and loved.

Indeed, I would regard these as the three legs of the Beaker Stool. On the whole, it is fair to say, it is a stool that mostly has to stand on two legs.  We have succeeded with the first and second, and failed dismally with the third. Well, it's not easy. After all, when you go around offering instant experience and fuzzy feelings you appeal to such a needy constituency. You try loving them.

Well, I've enjoyed this little ramble down memory lane. And I'm really excited about post 1,000. I've some incredible prophecies I can share with you - guaranteed to make politicians shudder, bring dynasties to their knees, and hopefully make all us Beaker Folk a lot of money.