Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine
Soundtrack: Swervedriver
This weekend we were in Devon for the baptism of Bailey, my great-nephew. Here he is, trying to grab my phone as I was taking his photo. He was on top form during the church service, banging the pew with both hands and shouting 'ruhh ruhh ruhh ruhh', which sounded a bit Krautrock. When the lady vicar made the sign of the cross with water on his head, he seemed very pleased. He loves water and so immediately looked into the font, as if to say 'Excellent - now can I get in there?'.
There were only modern hymns in the service, none of which I knew. They were all very cheery and 'faintly like a New Labour manifesto' (JJ's words) - the one directly after the baptism was about parenting skills, which I thought was a bit dubious. What's wrong with the old hymns about swords, lambs and fiery pits of hell?
I was baptised in the very same church, as a matter of fact. It's apparently a fine example of a Norman church and it does a great line in rood screen. I'm C of E, which essentially means I only set foot in the house of the lord when I am forced to (weddings and funerals). I find the church thing intensely embarrassing.
I recall very clearly the day I announced to my father that I would no longer be attending Sunday School, because 'God doesn't exist, does he?'. I was just 8 years old. As he was an agnostic, I am convinced that this rejection of religion was one of the happiest moments of his life. Because my Mum worked on Sunday mornings, it also meant that he'd have some help to make the Sunday dinner, which may have accounted for some of his glee.
I think part of my problem with going to church was that everything was about being happy. From a relatively early age, given what my family went through in the late 70s/early 80s, I was acutely aware that life was, in general, a bit of a pisser.
On a related note, the family feud shows no signs of healing itself. But I'm now way past the stage where I want to fix it myself, and feel it's about time that my two eldest sisters stopped behaving like teenage girls and sorted it out.
posted by deafdisco @ 12:35 am
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