Sunday, November 30
Anecdotally
Sam loves his cousin Hailey, who's six months older than he. He calls her "Hai-tey," and the two of them chase each other like nobody's business. Last night, after a family dinner, the two walked out hand in hand, and I went into a insulin shock.
Rita got rebaptized last night in a private family ceremony. Sam went nuts, running in circles while I tried to grab him, and when Rita came up out of the water, Sam cried, "Gramma bath! Gramma wanted a bath!"
(Before that, when I was trying to calm him, I offered him nur-nurs. "Nur-nur," he called loudly. "Chocolate nur-nur!")
Eric's Aunt Susan, with whom we spent Thanksgiving, has a piano in her living room. Sam was entranced, and he spent a good deal of time sitting on the bench, playing and singing. Occasionally he'd turn around and demand that we dance or sing with him.
We're leaving for home in a few hours. Not looking forward to this, I must say, but it will be good to get back into a routine again.
Posted on November 30, 08:16 AM
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Carrie,
I say whatever gives Rita a sense of Peace is a good thing. I doubt that God frowns upon people taking steps to greater dedication.
Aside: My dad, too, was baptized twice. The first time was a creek baptism. He said that he just wanted to do what his older brother and sisters were doing. He was baptized "in faith" a few years later. The creek he intially was baptized in ran dry not long after my father's "false" baptism, and he admits to harboring a tinge of guilt.
Yep, exactly. Their church has a baptismal pool right behind a (removable) wall behind the pulpit. Both Rita and the minister were in the water.
I raised an eyebrow about being "re-baptized" too, Erica, but her reasons seemed valid to me - her first baptism was done "under duress" because the minister wouldn't marry them unless she was baptized. She didn't think it was really meaningful that way.
Ezzackly, Dreama. I was reared So. Baptist and was baptised via immersion when I was twelve. In a sanctuary setting, one generally wears a baptismal robe and goes into the baptismal pool. At some churches, the baptisee (thanks, Dreama) and the minister are both in the the pool; at others, the minister stands beside the pool.
There are still creek and lake baptisms, though I've only ever seen them at camp.
Generally, one finds immersive baptism in denominations that emphasize a moment of salvation; that is, a willful moment of acceptance. Baptists view baptism as a public declaration of faith and as a symbol of one's acceptance of Christ. As with many protestant denominations (excluding, for instance, Church of Christ), for the Baptists, baptism is a symbol merely. Salvation comes through that willful calling and acceptance of Christ as Savior.
I was raised to believe that once one has been "saved," one is always "saved." However, the idea of rededication seems to be quite popular. I'm a Presbyterian, now. No dunking there.
Sounds like traditional baptism by immersion, where the baptisee's entire body is submerged in a body or pool (or in most indoor cases these days, a bath) of water. Think of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus in the river Jordan. It's standard practice for Baptists (natch) and most conservative/fundamental denominations, even today.
Came up out of the water? Huh? How does that work? What religion does that? I guess I'm used to the Episcopal sprinkles of water.
