Born Again

Every Sunday, there is a place where people wear fancy dress, unite in worship and celebrate a higher power... That higher power is the DJ and this place of worship is The Clapham Grand. Originally established in 1979 and governed mostly by the antipodean set, this event encourages drinking, dancing and fancy dress (costume) from noon to 4PM. http://www.thechurch.co.uk/

For months, I've gone on my Sunday runs that terminate at Clapham Junction and scratched my head at this spectacle. After an hour intervals up and down and challenging my VO2 max, I reach a state of exhaustion that feels like delirium when I walk through streets littered with drunken monkeys, cowboys and tennis teams in the middle of the day. Spiritual halucinations these are not. However, the whole concept reminds of a scene from an episode of the Simpsons called, "Hurricane Neddy".

[Ned talks to God after his house is destroyed.]
Ned: Why me, Lord? I've always been good. I don't drink or dance or swear. I've even kept kosher just to be on the safe side. I've done everything the Bible says! Even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff! What more can I do? I...I..I feel like I wanna yell out, but I just can't dang-darn-diddly-darn-dang-ding-dong-diddly-darned do it! I just...I... [sigh].

So The Church at Clapham Grand is the opposite of what Ned would do...