The Swedish Saga, Volume 4: The Lost Art

I have traveled to Sweden almost every year since 2009 and never have dawned the doors of a church…until Sunday.  We usually travel within Europe when we come, so not too many times have I found us being “home” on a Sunday morning.  Only about 5% of the Swedish population go to church…and the majority of those people are Lutheran. The Swede wanted to visit the church where he went through confirmation, but it was closed for renovations, so we went to St. Petri (St. Peter’s Church) instead, the oldest church (and building) in Malmö. It was built in the early 1300s. Way before America was even on the map!

The church was beautiful.  It displayed everything you can imagine and then some for a church of its caliber: Ornamental decorations, huge organ, outstanding sounding choir…the whole shebang. On the other hand, the priest was not who I imagined him to be. I grew up around preachers…so most of the priests I have seen have been on TV in some form or fashion. Sister Act. Classic.  In my head they are always older, bald (maybe a little gray hair on the sides), and dawning a black robe accompanied by a big cross around their neck. This guy though….he just didn’t fit the bill. Young. Full head of hair. Might even consider it long-ish. He strutted an Apple Watch…but even better…a shiny stud adorned his left ear. Oh yes. I’m thinking we might get along just fine.

You would think after the many weeks I have spent in Sweden (collectively) that it would have dawned on me at some point that the church sermon would be in Swedish and not English. Nope. Not at all.  With the little Swedish I do know…I could pick out a phrase here and there…but at the end of the sermon…I had no idea what I had just listened to. It was kind of like family gatherings at the In-laws’ house. 

Not knowing this going into it…this particular church is somewhat of a tourist attraction. All during the sermon people were coming in and out…taking pictures…talking amongst themselves…phones ringing, etc. Really? Respect. Look it up.🙄

Toward the end of the service…the priest started to break the bread in order for people to take communion. I didn’t really think anything about it…until I saw the one, big cup. Wait…we don’t get the cute little individual cups? We all have to drink from the same pool of germs? The Swede laughed and assured me that we weren’t all going to drink out of the same cup. Instead, we were all going to dip our bread into it. Hmmmm. That sounded better…until I thought about how the Swede had sneezed into his hands walking up to the church and then just casually wiped them off on his pants. What other ill-mannered individual is about to stick their snot-infested fingers in the cup that I’m supposed to emerge my bread into? And then that’s all I could think about…where everyone’s hands had been prior to this moment in my life. When I got up to the front, the priest said something to me that I didn’t understand. Was he blessing me? Were these instructions that would make or break my next move?  I picked up my bread and stepped in front of the cup. I peaked over the edge and froze.  Do I do it? Nothing is floating in it…that I can see. I quickly dipped, popped it in my mouth, and scurried away.

Even though I wasn’t able to get much out of the sermon…I was really glad that I went. Growing up in a Christian family that was in church most of the time the doors were open…and living in the “Bible Belt” where going to church is more common than not…I spent much of my adolescent life thinking the rest of the word did the same. This big, beautiful church only had 40-50 people sitting in the pews on Sunday morning. So many thoughts ran through my head. As usual. I wonder…how many people filled the pews back in the 1300s when it was built? When did the pews become so vacant?  I can only imagine the money that has been invested to maintain and make this 700-year-old building the beautiful piece of art it has become today.

Side Notes:

• This is how the church collects money.  It looks like a cross between a fishing net….and a swimming pool skimmer.
• Sweden is known to be very environmentally green. They recycle, compost everything perishable, drive gas-powered cars as little as possible…and everything in between. The rough, one-ply toilet paper that I have mentioned a few times in the past…I saw the package today. On it read: 100% Recycled. Is this why it has a sand paper-like feel? Recycled toilet paper. Please tell me it’s recycled from like…wasted printer paper or Starbucks’ to-go coffee cup collection found in a clean trash can…and not filtered sewer waste that was deemed reusable.🙏🏻🙈💩
• I have eaten American, Swedish, Greek, Thai, Indian, and Lebanese food…all in the last week. I feel so cultured.  And fat. 😐😂

Big Hugs.  Lots of Love.

P.M.T.