So in my last post I made mention of the impending Christening of our little chimp. Again, those of you who know me are likely surprised by the decision to baptise the baby. I admit, I am conflicted. I have a bit of a problem with organized religion as I know it. My family is Eastern Orthodox, which is a lot like Catholic with a few variations. Lots to be offended by if you're looking.
The hubby and I elected to side-step the church when we got married in favour of a ceremony which we had more control over. The church has a lot of rules, I guess, and I don't really like to be told what to do. Especially when it comes to something as personal as one's faith. The conflict though, is that there is some comfort in the ritual of religion. Many of the ceremonies that we go through in life are based in religion and modern society has not been able to separate itself from that. Unfortunately, if you're looking for ceremony, more often than not you're headed to church (or mosque, or temple, or what-have-you).
What ceremony am I looking for exactly? Well, I'm not really sure. As far as Christianity goes, I'm not overly concerned about the chimp being absolved of her original sin or getting into heaven when her time comes -- in that regard I'm a pretty bad Christian. But I am interested in the idea of the recognition that comes with a christening. A welcoming into the community of humanity, if you will. And while I suppose we could have just thrown her a party, the weight of it just isn't the same.
Also, the assigning of god-parents is an idea that I really like. Not the kind of parents who will tell you to go to your room when you've been bad or slap a bandage on your knee when you fall off your bike, but parents whose focus is a bit broader, and fuzzier. In our case, we've chosen two people with different types of knowledge. My brother - the godfather - knows about our (my)culture's and family's traditions. Things which he, having had similar experiences to my own, can pass on to his niece. My friend Gern on the other hand - the godmother - is a person to whom faith and spirituality is a reality in her life. She is the only person I know who has actively gone shopping for a church which suits her personality and lifestyle. She is the only one that I know who can act as an example when it comes to matters of faith. Not that I'm not interested in teaching the chimp about that stuff, it's just nice to have some options for people you can go to when you're looking for info and answers about yourself.
In any case we're going through with it. I've already spoken with the priest, and told the family, and in particular, my grandmothers are thrilled. The good news, is that in my culture, most of the work is left to the godparents (although, let's face it, my mum will likely take care of many of the details) and the birth parents don't have much to do at all -- now that's the kind of tradition that I could get used to!
The hubby and I elected to side-step the church when we got married in favour of a ceremony which we had more control over. The church has a lot of rules, I guess, and I don't really like to be told what to do. Especially when it comes to something as personal as one's faith. The conflict though, is that there is some comfort in the ritual of religion. Many of the ceremonies that we go through in life are based in religion and modern society has not been able to separate itself from that. Unfortunately, if you're looking for ceremony, more often than not you're headed to church (or mosque, or temple, or what-have-you).
What ceremony am I looking for exactly? Well, I'm not really sure. As far as Christianity goes, I'm not overly concerned about the chimp being absolved of her original sin or getting into heaven when her time comes -- in that regard I'm a pretty bad Christian. But I am interested in the idea of the recognition that comes with a christening. A welcoming into the community of humanity, if you will. And while I suppose we could have just thrown her a party, the weight of it just isn't the same.
Also, the assigning of god-parents is an idea that I really like. Not the kind of parents who will tell you to go to your room when you've been bad or slap a bandage on your knee when you fall off your bike, but parents whose focus is a bit broader, and fuzzier. In our case, we've chosen two people with different types of knowledge. My brother - the godfather - knows about our (my)culture's and family's traditions. Things which he, having had similar experiences to my own, can pass on to his niece. My friend Gern on the other hand - the godmother - is a person to whom faith and spirituality is a reality in her life. She is the only person I know who has actively gone shopping for a church which suits her personality and lifestyle. She is the only one that I know who can act as an example when it comes to matters of faith. Not that I'm not interested in teaching the chimp about that stuff, it's just nice to have some options for people you can go to when you're looking for info and answers about yourself.
In any case we're going through with it. I've already spoken with the priest, and told the family, and in particular, my grandmothers are thrilled. The good news, is that in my culture, most of the work is left to the godparents (although, let's face it, my mum will likely take care of many of the details) and the birth parents don't have much to do at all -- now that's the kind of tradition that I could get used to!
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