Friday 3 March 2006

A three-year-old's sacramental theology

Yesterday my three-year-old daughter approached me with a small cup of water, and asked if she could baptise me. I agreed, but said that she would have to dry my hair afterwards.

So with great pleasure and solemnity, she proceeded to pour the cup over the top of my head. When it was over, I asked: “Do you have a towel to dry my hair?”

She thought for a moment, and then replied: “No, this is actually a Baptist church, so we use a blow dryer.”

9 Comments:

Anonymous said...

I am very surprise that Jim has not comment yet!!

Anonymous said...

"Blow dryer" - perhaps a clever reference to John 3:8? The mechanism required, no doubt, due to the copious quantities of water used in Baptist practice.

Jim said...

We Baptists try to avoid blow dryers near baptistery's because of the inherent danger in mixing electricity and water.

Like John the Baptist, we give our baptizands a towel.

I hope you will clarify this situation for your little one so that she doesn't toss a blow dryer into a baptistery sometime!

;-)

Ben Myers said...

Kim, you must be right about John 3:8 (where my children are concerned, I always prefer the most ingenius interpretation). And thanks, Jim, I will certainly clarify this safety issue for her.

Incidentally, though, what kind of towels did John the Baptist use? Exotic camel skin towels perhaps?

Although I'm not a Baptist myself, I always do think it's a shame when people are baptised with so little water that even a tissue would be enough to dry them!

Anonymous said...

C'mon dude . . . they weren't towels at all - they were chamois!

Timbo said...

Perhaps what she actually meant was that this is a Pentecostal church, and the blow dryer is a cryptic reference to the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Ben Myers said...

Well, Tim, she definitely has some charismatic tendencies -- so you may well be right. ;-)

TSHusker said...

Sorry no quick-witted quip as the others, just a hearty chuckle and a smile! Out of the mouth of babes! I love it!!

Tom
Doctrine Matters

One of Freedom said...

Man that is awesome!

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