Christening

We had a lovely day yesterday as we went to the Christening of a friends baby. S had celebrated her first birthday 4 days previously and has been walking for a couple of months so we all wondered how she would react. She was delightful. She spent most of the service talking to herself or waving to her sister and grandparents and was puzzled rather than upset by having three ladles of water poured over her head. The only near miss was when she made a grab for the large, lit candle on a tall, wooden, floor standing candlestick. It teetered for a couple of seconds before settling, meanwhile the whole congregation held its breath! Afterwards S happily showed us her beautiful Christening dress before we went back to her home for nibbles and a natter. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

I have no religious faith myself and have not had my children Christened. In retrospect it would have been nice to have had some sort of non religious ceremony to welcome them into the world. Marriages have moved into the secular world perhaps we should consider naming ceremonies more often as well.

Elvie.