Dove Descending

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

(Mark 1:6-16, NIV Bible)

We had a baptism at Church this evening. It was a guy from Iran who has been here for a couple of years. It is always great to formally welcome someone into the family of the church. In our church adults and young people get to choose whether they have a complete submersion or a splash of water from the font. Today it was the latter, but apparently he had said he wanted to get wet, so the curate Vicki really went for it! Afterwards there was (of course) coffee and cake to celebrate.

The picture is of the font lid which was resting on a little table behind the altar. It depicts the Holy Spirit descending from heaven in the form of a dove, as in the Bible quote above. It isn't exactly 'pretty', is it? But I quite like the rather harsh, almost industrial-looking representation. After all, the image of the heavens being 'torn open' is a powerful one. Behind the dove is a stained glass fish, which also seems to be descending for some reason. But I'll save that for another blip!

One of my favourite hymns - a Wesley classic with a modern twist.