How long does it take to become a proper villager? Over the last 30 years I have lived in several villages and in each of them it was felt that 25 years should do it. Sadly the fact I’ve lived in so many villages means that I am destined to be a life-long incomer!
In the year of preparing to come to this area, and in the four months Chris and I have actually lived here, we have seen a lot of village life. We have thoroughly enjoyed worshipping in the churches, watching pantomimes and plays, going to village shows and dances (sometimes in deep mud), sharing meals, and watching, hearing and reading stories about life in Pilton, Croscombe, North Wootton and Dinder. But if we apply the 25 year rule we certainly can’t claim villager-status.
But is this the right rule to be applying? What really makes a village community? Of course many people have deep personal ties to a village because generations of their family have lived, worked and been to school in it. But there are others who find themselves living in a village, because of a job move or retirement; or because they stumbled across the ideal place to live out a dream. So is a village community just a random group of people?
To me it’s more than this. It seems to be much more closely linked to the experiences we share, and the things that we know about each other and the way things work that are simply known but not spoken. But this can lead to accidental mistakes as newcomers sometimes break rules they didn’t know existed. It’s not for nothing that the Lord’s Prayer includes ‘forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us’. To be a community we sometimes have to cope with upset and to be willing to forgive past hurts, and to move forward together.
But to be a community we need to care also about each other and the place we live - and to share experiences, like animal services, parties, harvest celebrations and film nights. And, as well as playing, we will sometimes cry and sometimes pray together. And through all of these things, our lives connect with each other and our environment – and they unite us - as proper villagers - whether we have only lived in the village for weeks or for generations.
Lydia Avery
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