Ten-Finger Exercises

A master plan, angels and baptism

This may draw some heat, but it's a puzzle to me.

I read Twinkledee's blog about the funeral of her friend. It was completely secular and quite lengthy, with many people talking about him and much crying, and comments about "flying with the angels," which she said she thought was normal for people without faith.

That's been my experience too. People who have had no religious connections suddenly talk about a person who has died being in heaven and flying with angels. In the first place, I don't think flying with the angels is in any of our futures, but why do they? Is it just a comforting thought to glom onto? It certainly doesn't have much to do with mainstream Christian theology.

And for that matter, neither does the idea that God has a master plan for all of us, and all we have to do is find it and walk in it. Still, that's a common and popular idea in many fundamental congregations. Along with the quoting out of context that "God doesn't give us more than we can handle." Plenty of people's surviving families can testify against that. Still, it's a comforting thought the way it's commonly used, that is, meant to help give people the strength they need to hold up under adversity.

On another tack, we had quite a good sermon today about Jesus's baptism. It's often puzzling why he would want to be baptized, since we think about it as being cleansed from sin. The preacher put it that the baptism of Jesus, a 30-ish year old carpenter, signified the putting behind him of his regular life up till then, and the taking on of his ministry. Baptism, he said, is, for all of us, a sign of our willingness to turn away from our past and begin fresh.

The font by the door of the church was filled, and he invited all of us to bless ourselves with the water and remind ourselves of our baptisms and our willingness to turn again to God. It is a turning we do every day, not just at our baptism or on New Year's Day. The theology isn't new, but the invitation to the baptismal font on our way out the door was a nice symbol of what we are to be about.

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