Perugino, The Baptism of Christ. Art Institute of Chicago
Just a Little Drowning
By Mark Storer
If Christian Mysticism delves toward what can, at times, be referred to as ‘magical thinking,’ then the practice and reality of modern Christianity must somehow work as a bulwark to thwart that practice. But I believe that Christianity’s ancient traditions have transformed into more magical thinking and less metaphysical reality. Of all the faith’s historical traditions, baptism to me presents the clearest evidence of a faith once grounded in daily realities that moved toward flimsy metaphors, gilded quite literally by gold and marble, icons and images.
The most important feature of baptism is its inextricable link to the very scientific notion that human beings cannot exist without water. It is a point lost in many discussions about ‘survival’ issues, especially in discussion of a post-apocalyptic world where individuals are just seeking to survive day-to-day before any kind of thriving can begin. Human beings at their healthiest can probably survive about a week without food, and they will get weaker and weaker as the days go on...
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The most important feature of baptism is its inextricable link to the very scientific notion that human beings cannot exist without water. It is a point lost in many discussions about ‘survival’ issues, especially in discussion of a post-apocalyptic world where individuals are just seeking to survive day-to-day before any kind of thriving can begin. Human beings at their healthiest can probably survive about a week without food, and they will get weaker and weaker as the days go on...
Subscribe to the New PRS Journal to read on...
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