I became a Roman Catholic convert because
of the influence of the missionary nuns who
ran my school and learned that baptism was
like an insurance policy. If you were baptized
original sin would be wiped out.
LIMBO was a place where unbaptized children would
go if they died. Do not confuse it with that dance
they do at Caribbean beach parties.
Limbo was not unpleasant it's just that you are
denied seeing the face of God. I always wondered how
God could do that to an innocent child who did no wrong
but simply inherited part of Adam and Eve's original sin.
You know I am a person who is always questioning
things and because of ideas like this and other
rules on birth control, I moved away from the
Catholic Church when I was a young adult.
Limbo was a temporary place as one day when
the second coming took place babies would eventually go
to heaven. Purgatory was also a way station if you fell
into it because of venial sins (small stuff like forgetting
to say your night prayers). Mortal sins (like eating meat on
Fridays, missing mass on sundays, killing a person), on the other
hand condemned you to HELL where there was no wayout.
It was a religion of GUILT. But things could always be
corrected by a confession of sins.
Nowadays more enlightened religions look at baptism as a
ritual which symbolizes purification and an entrance into
the fold of God like people. The Catholic church may have
also come around to this thinking also.
I like to look at it this way also and all that being said I
was proud to be a witness to my grandson's entrance
to the fold last Sunday. He was welcomed into a
community of God and is officially a child of God.
He was okay with the water as he likes to play
in water and the fountain was somewhat
intriguing. Because he was a little older than the typical
age of a child who is baptised he was fully aware of
what was going on. He gave himself a big round of
applause and joined the congregation in the congratulatory
clapping. I think he was working the crowd.
Next came the walk down the aisle with the female
pastor to introduce him to the congregation. He was fine
with it at first but as they neared the front door he said
enough of this. He started to howl for his Mama and Dada
and had to be rescued from the would be abductor by
his Dad.
With all this being shared by doting grandparents, aunt and
uncles who all showered him with gifts this was just another
great day to be Dee Dee (that's what he calls himself). I sense
that he is getting a very good idea of what family is all about.
