Entering the Dark Side

I’d always know that the Swedes didn’t like show-offs, but I thought that they’d always pursued excellence, being a very practical people.  However, I hadn’t realised the full extent to which the society had been warped by austerity and the ruling classes and that it was encapsulated in the term Jantelagen.  We read an extract from a novel written in the 1930s in my Swedish class. The book was set in a small town and describes a boy growing up and his attempted escape.  Of course, it was based on real life and caused somewhat of a sensation at the time. 

The author described the 10 commandments that were more real to the lives of the townsfolk than the real 10 commandments.  They go a long way to explain why Scandinavia has such a high alcoholic and suicide rate, why people hate the church, and the behaviour of various relatives, but why the church took these and ran with them I don’t know, though can guess.   I was totally horrified by them, so here they are, and here are some of the things the Bible has to say about them.  Add your own!

1.    You're not to think you are anything special.
Ephesians 1:4, 1 Peter 2:9, John 15:19, John 3:16.

2.    You're not to think you are as good as us.
1 Corinthians 12:26

3.    You're not to think you are smarter than us.
1 Corinthians 12:26

4.    You're not to convince yourself that you are better than us.
1 Corinthians 12:26, Romans 12:10, Romans 14:1

5.    You're not to think you know more than us.
Matthew 13:11, Romans 15:14, 1Corinthians 8:1

6.    You're not to think you are more important than us.
Romans 12:10

7.    You're not to think you are good at anything.
1 Corinthians 12:7, James 5:17, I Corinthians 10:31

8.    You're not to laugh at us.
Proverbs 14:9, Psalm 52:6, Romans 12:15.

9.    You're not to think anyone cares about you.
John 21:16, 1 Corinthians 10:24, Philippians 4:10-16, Matthew 25:35-40, James 1:27,  

10. You're not to think you can teach us anything.
Romans 12:7, Luke 11:52

Of course it’s wrong to boast, be prideful, to discriminate, to mock and think you are better than everyone else, and there are a gazillion verses about that, there is a balance.  However, it’s when we look for the best in others, encouraging that, that the best comes out in us. “Accepting one another”.  My Bible hero is Barnabas, because I always wish that I had had encouragement and so much want others to have the encouragement I can give them.  Fail too many times of course, but at least I try and have Jesus to thank for that!

I should also say that society is recognising things and trying to change positively. It'll be a while before we turn into America.....

Life of Leisure?

Graham has decreed that I need to get a job. Therefore, being a dutiful wife and also wondering why I keep going over budget, I duly went to the Arbetsförmedling office in Mullsjö.  M is smaller than Jönköping, so I thought there would be less hanging around.

After hanging around for a bit (and with 3 people coming in after me - worrying or what!), I got called into the office and we looked at each other. "errh, I haven't got a job and would like one?" I said, "I assume that's the right question?".  He looked at me and smiled. "If we had a box of jobs, you would get one straightaway".  Bless 'im.  He showed me how the website worked, told me to fill in the bits, was well impressed I'd got my CV already (???what??? how can that be impressive???)

Anyway, went home and filled in the website pages, in between baking for the Sewing Mafia's annual auction.  It was quite easy, though there was a bit for "what skills do you have that you don't use for your normal job" that was difficult. You had to choose from a drop down list as well and they didn't have 'playing Zelda', which was probably just as well as I'm not really that good at it.  I put down embroidery and gardening on the grounds that one of the ladies in our knitting group got a job at Volvo because they figured that her sewing skills meant that she was good at assembling small bits and working out what to put where when things went wrong. Good call!
It was also a bit like Twitter cos you have to do a job description in 220 characters. I hope the employers deduce that conciseness is a skill that totally belongs to me, notwithstanding a liking for sentences that could be out of Dickens or the Puritans.

If I'm totally marvellous, and there are zillions of jobs for my admittedly somewhat esoteric skill set, someone could call me this minute, but the Man At Mullsjö said to come on Friday and he'd talk me through the next bit.  I've even got his card and an officially signed bit of paper.