queenmolluskria

the new album "the time, made new" by the band "McCol."

hehehe.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next three sentences in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.
6. Tag five other people to do the same. (If you're reading this you're tagged unless you've already done this exercise.)

"Moonlight was shining through the bars on the window. And someone was goggling at him: a freckled-faced, red-haired, long-nosed someone.

"Ron Weasley was outside Harry's window"

har har.

....that could be the title of the book. hmmm, the story would probably go like this: molly gets up one morning, goes to ephrata, really likes the people there, has a religious experience/ great awakening, and decides to live a celibate life, wearing a white robe, farming in the beautiful wilds of pennsylvania with other devout anabaptists. the end.

no, actually, that wouldn't be the end. mollusk would decide that this really sucked, and she would leave right away.

ok, this is what really happened: i went to Ephrata cloisters with an old teacher of mine, mrs. glenn, who was actually my KINDERGARTEN teacher and my 12th grade pennsylvania history teacher. i asked if she wanted to go, because i knew that this would be just her thing, and she is one of those inspiring "eternal learners." sigh. only if i could be like that...

anyway, let me tell you about ephrata. A German, an anabaptist to be precise, named Biessal came to pennsylvania in search of religious freedom (like everyone else at that time). after trying some things out, he decides to go out into the wilds and live a celibate, pious life, devouting his time to his salvation. of course, he inspired lots of other people who decided to follow him, so the whole "live a solitary life" didn't really work out. so he started a religiou community: the ephrata cloisters. these people believed in strict discipline. they only had 6 hours of sleep per night which was interupted halfway through for 2 hours of praying. they wore simple white robes, ate simple food (hardly ever any meat) and spent the hours of the day in meditation when they weren't working. this started around the 1720's or 30's. it didn't last very long, though. the last celibate member died in 1813.

what struck me about this religious community is that they were so similar to the orders of monks and nuns in europe during the medieval period. what was different about the cloisters, however, was that although they encouraged celibacy, they allowed families to live near their community. in fact, they had special houses for them. when the last celibate member died, they took over the community and became the 7th day german anabaptists or something or other. don't quite remember, my brain is fried.

sorry about that sketchy history lesson.

i think what i really enjoyed the most about the day was being with mrs. glenn. she is such an energetic lady. she is ALWAYS asking questions and is always wanting to know "why?" she knew almost as much as the tour guide did about the cloisters. it was really a blast to walk around these old, beautiful buildings. it really gets you thinking (and i think someone *coughmerrycough* could agree with me on this) about how your life compares to the lives of these people. i almost wish i could just go back in time and not have to work about anything except providing for my bare necessities and working on my salvation. i don't know about the religion though. i don't think i could stand for the strict discipline. but our tourguide did have a good point. she ended our tour by making a comment that went like this: despite whatever these people believed, or the mistakes they made, or how weird they may seem, you have to give them credit for having the conviction to worship according to what they believed and face whatever persecution came their way. i don't thing the "ephratians" were persectued, but biessal sure was.

on the way back we stopped at Conrad Wiesser's house. he was a man in the 18th century who spent some time at the cloisters. he was an importan figure in pennsylvania history, but thats another story.

the best part of the day: i told mrs. glenn how i was teaching myself to spin on a drop spindle. well, it just so happen that she had an antique spinning-wheel sitting in her attic...and she is letting me have it! (for the time being) yay! i'm so excited to learn how to spin on it!

anyway, thats my story for the day. whew.

My life is rated PG!



Your life is rated PG!

What is your life rated? (MPAA Scale)

Take Other Caffeine Nebula Quizzes


honestly, i thought i was going to make it past "G." merry and kristine, i don't think i should be hanging out with you guys this weekend, at least not w/o "parental guidance."