Monday 11 January 2016

Baptism and The Episcopagen

"The Conversation", oil pastels




Sometimes you read something that readjusts 

your thinking.
 

You know, the way one of those old Kodak 

viewfinders moved you  onto a new picture 

when you pushed down the lever at the side.



I just read Martha T.'s blog about baptism.

(link here)



I really like the analogy of finding God in the 

shit.  Jungians believe that is the path to 

individuation and I have to say that I agree.  

I don't see individuation as a goal.  At least 

not for me - the pile of shit I have to integrate 

will take 1000 lifetimes to work through.

It's a process.


But her words got me thinking about baptism 

and what it could possibly mean to an 

Episcopagan.


Is it enough to know that such ideas as Martha's 

are floating about beneath the rigid veneer of 

the church?  I don't know if it makes me feel 

any more warm and fuzzy about Christianity but 

am grateful that at least in 2016 she won't be 

burned at the stake ...


because such ideas give me hope.




4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the link to this article, I enjoyed it. I think any spiritual thought is enriched by a good dose of Jungian understanding!

    What struck me in particular about her article had more to do with the concept of guilt. I don't think guilt is natural to humans but is socially constructed and taught to us. We have to learn how to be guilty just as we learn other negative emotions, like hatred or bigotry. And any person or institution that teaches us to be guilty (e.g. church, advertising industry, etc) is doing so in order to control us more easily.

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  2. That is the most interesting thing I've ever run across about baptism. I think we are all surrounded, immersed, in guilt in different ways depending on the society we live in, the community we grow up in, the family we're born into, the schools we attend, the culture we are a part of, etc. That being said, I agree with Debra. Guilt is taught.

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  3. Yes, I agree - guilt is learned, but you know although she comes pretty darn close to it I couldn't find a place where she actually says she thinks we are born with guilt. She called it a basic human 'impulse' not instinct. Tiny difference, I know. hmmm

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  4. You're right, Francie. She did tiptoe around that question. And the origin of guilt wasn't really the point of her article, I know. I was just off on my own tangent, LOL! As usual?

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