Baptism re-explained !

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.