Baptism

After we found our groove with little V, we started thinking about whether we wanted to baptize her. My husband was baptized as a baby, but my Dad felt very strongly that my sisters and I should not be baptized as babies. He feels that it is important for one to understand why they are being baptized, and moreover, to have a choice in the matter. I think that makes a lot of sense, but being baptized at age 13, which is probably the most awkward time in anyone's life, wasn't exactly fun. Not to mention the fact that I just never felt like I fit in with the other members of the youth group at BUMC, and that sure didn't help. It is interesting to be seeing all of this now from a parent's point of view.

My husband was also raised Methodist but didn't have such a good experience attending Sunday school and church services. He now considers himself an Agnostic. To tell the truth, this bothered me at first, but after I heard him explain what the term "Agnostic" means to him, I began to feel differently. I think I mistakenly confused the idea of there being no God with the idea that we cannot and do not know if there is a God.

So, why baptize a baby?

Because it's special. Because a baby is God's way of saying he wants the world to go on. Because after a baby is baptized, she will be handed to a member of the church who gets to proudly walk her back up to the altar, showing her off for the rest of the congregation to see.