My Lenten reflection today is on baptism, since I was baptised on this day some years ago. I was two and a half months old, and my poor grandmother, who was totally old school, was freaking out that I would die and go to Limbo before my parents finally got around to having me dunked. I don't remember the episode myself, but they tell me I wore a beautiful dress that my father and uncle were baptised in, as well as my grandmother and all her sisters. It was made from my great-grandmother's wedding dress. How lovely if I could one day have my own hypothetical children baptised in this gown, which could be made to look like a flower with the baby at the center. However, the last anyone has seen of this gown, it was with one of the many children of my father's cousin. She has more or less three hundred daughters with names that rhyme, like Eileen, Aileen, Colleen, Kathleen, etc., and so my dad assumes the gown did not survive all those baptisms. It matters not, a baptism is about more than an heirloom dress, and anyway if I have these hypothetical children someday, likely I would have my own wedding dress that I could make into a baptismal gown... or get someone to do it for me, since I have never met a sewing machine I could get along with.
Perhaps that is not much of a reflection on baptism, but it is a mystery I could never begin to explain. I used to tell my catechism students that their souls were like beautiful white dresses or suits that had a stain on them which is washed away by baptism (I told them it was an apple juice stain, which made them laugh), and then they should keep this dress or suit clean for when they meet God face to face. But if you get a stain on it, that's OK - you go to the laundromat called "Confession."
Today our band had a lunchtime gig at a neighborhood center where they provide discounted lunches for seniors. The guests enjoyed our jigs and reels, although we did have to play "When Irish Eyes are Smiling," which I utterly detest. At least they didn't ask for "Tura Lura"! One man asked if we could play "Coconut Grove," which we didn't know, and which does not sound one bit Irish, but hey, at least it wasn't "Tura Lura." He told us his in-laws used to have a record of it, but the only song I could find by that name was done by the Lovin' Spoonful in the 60s, when this man would have been approaching middle age, and his in-laws would not have been young, so I can't imagine they were listening to the Lovin' Spoonful. I did find a song called "The Coconut Song," the one about putting the lime in the coconut, but that didn't seem right either. If anyone can solve this Lenten mystery, please let me know.
Famous Hat
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