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Godz Gang Baptism Sml

Mystery or Mockery?

The debate here isn’t: is the above action a valid baptism? [Though that might very well be a worthwhile discussion.]

My question, watching the video, is when does making something more contemporary tip over into mockery of the mystery? And, when I keep thinking that through, it’s not actually the contemporariness that is the issue. Super-traditional, with over-fussy obsessions about how to hold one’s fingers, and fixation on vesture, posture, movement – that can end up mocking the mystery also, it seems to me.

…that is not to say that one cannot laugh in the midst of seriousness… or that God does not have a sense of humour about even the most profound things… or that we cannot bring a lightness to what is most deep…

And then there are the Christian leaders who exploite their authority – fleecing their flock for every dollar they can get… or abusing them… or those who use faith, religion, spirituality for political benefit,… and so on…

Money, sex, violence, power,…

Mystery… mockery…

What do you think?

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6 thoughts on “Mystery or Mockery?”

  1. Hi Bosco, APPOCH; From my mothering perspective,Firstly, spraying water inside this house is a no go for starters, as we have young children using this space also. The toy guns they are using are made to be used outside. This behaviour is making a mockery of my housekeeping rules! Blessing RUTH

    1. Thanks, Ruth. Someone on twitter, looking at this video, also connected the baptism-as-dying with the USA obsession with guns – probably not conscious, but a point that caused me to stop again. Blessings.

  2. Hi Bosco, You have misunderstood me. There was no intention on my part to have an opinion on the gun laws in America.I was expressing my view from a motherly point, not an ASS-PRICK view. Aspect… ?respect?
    The aspect,I was concerned about was that the small children that appeared in the video that are crawing on the floor, are having to crawl thourgh
    The water sprayed on the carpet, from the TOY WATER GUNS, This doesn’t seem good to me. Please forgive me if I am not seeing the point or expressing it right here. Blessing Ruth

    1. Thanks, Ruth – I wasn’t intending to ascribe the gun opinion to you; I was adding to the conversation (from twitter) what another had spotted and I had missed. Blessings.

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