Baptism and Dedication

This morning there was not only a baby baptism but also a baby dedication. Baptism is a Methodist thing, and dedication is more of a United Reformed thing. So as one seemed more appropriate to one baby and one more to the other, that is what was done. In the dedication all the family gathered round, and a blessing was given by placing a hand on the baby's head.

Tolerance

Richard said it took a long time before tribes with their own gods came together and realised there was One God. Such a realisation should have been the start of greater tolerance. But it hasn't always worked like that. Moslems worship the one God and Christians too, but still they often look with intolerance on each other. We can be humbled by the faith of many Moslems and how they express it in their whole life. Even within Christianity there is intolerance between groups. It is not God that is separate but its our way of thinking, our way of creating hierarchies. We can only address our own intolerance as we find it.