Stories are our Teachers
The church baptistery was locked, but the gate slats were just wide enough for me to slip my hand through and shoot a blind photo of the ceiling with my cellphone.
"Go ahead, she said."
I took the photo, pulled my hand back through, and saw the story of Christ painted on the ceiling in burnt desert colors.
The mural is painted just above the baptistery, the place where the child is held, head heavenward as the priest pours water over her hair.
"The first thing the baby sees during her baptism is the Christ-story, from birth to death," she said. "It’s the first thing she sees as she enters the church. And,” she said, leaning in, “this is how the church used stories for 1,500 years, sharing Christ with even the most illiterate."
We are born into this world craving mother’s milk. It is the first draught of life. The second draught is experienced in the stories we’re told in the silent places, places like the breast, the crib, and baptismal font.
***WAKE UP WITH ME***
THE BOOK OF WAKING UP —a book on addiction, attachment, and the Divine Love—launched TUESDAY so order a copy or ten at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookish (my favorite indie bookseller). Then, forward this post to a friend and ask them to read along.