Ok, so... big weekend.
First , the firsts... Mother's Day!
It was kimmy's first mommy's day, so of course it was a big deal. After a very very very long night of Gord's restlessness, Kim tried to get a few extra z's. I brought Gord up to her at some point and they had some quality time...
We had a quiet morning. Kim's mom came in Friday so it was nice for Kim to be with her on Mother's Day.
I made them breakfast.
Dave and Tammy showed up and we got ready for...
(Insert Church Organ - Dah Dah Daaaaahhhh)
The Baptism!
Gord was funny. He was pretty tired, so he started fussing after we got into the church, but after a few minutes, he was out. He remained sleeping even while the water was poured over his head - 3 times.
So, Gord was 'washed clean of his ignorance' and touched by Jeebus and his Old Man.
It may be hard to believe by those who know me well now a days, but I at one time was an extremely religious little kid. (That's not to say I'm a devil worshipper, just I have a different view on the whole organized religion thing).
But when I was in kindergarten, and through elementary school, I was quite a fan of the "Big G". I went to catholic school my entire youth, and especially in elementary school there was 'religion class'. During these classes there would be a story usually adapted from the bible, and the teacher would teach the 'moral' of the story. I was always very interested in what she/he had to say, and I remember a few times in particular, wishing the other kids in my class took the message to heart as much as I did.
See, because my folks liked to move around a lot, I was bounced around from school to school. I was a small kid by the time grade 3 came around, and combined with the fact that the 'ladies' of the class thought I was 'cute' and liked me more than the other 'smelly' boys, (hey, these are the facts here, I'm not making this up for shit's and giggles), but long story short, I was picked on a whole lot.
So, back to the 'times in particular'... there was a story about kids picking on other kids and how it is cruel, and that 'God' doesn't like mean people... well, I remember thinking "I wish
they would pay attention to this and stop picking on me..."
So, yeah, I was into the whole 'God' and 'Heaven' thing. It wasn't so much heaven, as it was Hell that I paid more attention to. I really didn't want to go there. I tried really hard not to piss of the Man himself.
I remember one time, I was no older than 4, at my cousin's place, my sister, cousin Shawn and I were outside playing the rhyme game "Pill, Will, Fill, Mill... etc". Well, I was set up. My sister choose "Puck". Well, we go around taking turns, "Luck, Tuck, Muck", and my naive response..."Fuck". Suddenly, my sister (who was probably 9), jumped off the ledge we were sitting on, and ran screaming "I'm telling on YOU"... "Mom, Mom Mom"... well, I had NO idea what the hell was going on. My mom came to the door, crouched down, and said, "Steven, God doesn't like it when we say bad words, and what you said was a bad word". Well, it worked. I literally, and I mean LITERALLY, didn't say the "F" word for atleast 10 years after that. And even in highschool, if I did say it, it just felt wrong.
I was SO against the "F" word, that one time, about 5/6 years later, when I was ice fishing with my dad and his friends, I overheard my dad say "bla bla bla FUCK bla bla"... Well, it ruined me. I was depressed the rest of the day, and on our walk home across the frozen bay, I called him on it.
"Dad, I heard you say the "F" word"
He apologized and I can count the number of times on my one hand that I've heard him say it since - and most of those have been as part of jokes.
Another time - as an example of my devotedness to 'Jesus', and as a glimpse into the evilness my sister spewed as a youngin'... She offered to 'Play Jesus'. It sounded like fun, so I said 'Sure'. She's like, 'OK, lie down on the ground and i'll WHIP you". "Ugh, sounds good to me"... so I lied there as she tied a peice of a plastic 'connex' to a string and whipped my back.
So, yeah, I was a religious kid. At some point though, probably around 14, I started thinking for myself. I started having issues with the whole 'Our way or the highway (to HELL)' that the church would spew. I started realizing that there is a lot more to this world than any of us realize, and for someone to boldly claim they know EXACTLY how things are and should be, rubbed me the wrong way. I've since become a fan of budhism - essentially, it's christianity (judaism, Islam etc) but without all the bullshit associated with it.
I have issues believing a lot of the fundamentals that the Church hold as their highest conviction. That's not to say I don't agree with the message. But again, take away the major dogma of Christianity, and all your left with is Buddhism! In short, I think we all have a duty to do what's right, do our best, and treat others as we want to be treated... and those 3 things are going to be the tenets I try and instill upon Gord.
Having said all that. I'm extremely happy that Gord was baptized. I am going to encourage Gord to learn as much as possible about his religion so that when he is old enough, he can decide for himself how he wants to believe.... even if it's in 'God' - my favourite fictional character!
Cheers.
