Three babies

Three babies baptised this morning and three families with that wonderful look of excitement and awe, maybe even a bit of fear. There is something eminently fragile about these bundles we baptise. It's a wonder any of us make it to adulthood but most of us do.
What I like most about baptisms and babies is the potential, it almost feels like energy in the new born. This child I hold could be anything, a scientific genius, a really good neighbour, a vicar, the best butcher in the Calder Valley!
Regeneration is all about harnessing that potential energy, creating the conditions for the child to grow, for the community to thrive.
I always tell people that one of our main jobs with children is to get out of their way or rather to remove the obstacles that get in the way even that means getting ourselves out of the way.