William Scott Miller

Baptismal Rite for a Dead Child William Scott Miller

When the family of the dead child asks for a baptism the response is- what to do? At best we may hobble together some blessing, leaving the matter forever awkward and hurting for the parents and chaplain. There is also the inevitable leap to theologically inform the trauma filled parents of the impossibility of their request. Who knows best the chaplain defending the faith or the parents? My choice is to listen to the parents. Their particular vision through the medium of grief, unveils a fruitful theological paradox. For they stand within that axis of the inner historical and the transcendent. Baptism and the act of committal fuse this inner historical and the transcendent moment within one rite. It allows the family to begin to formulate their own eschatological understanding of what has taken place. Unlike baptism it does not use water for a blessing but oil for anointing. Where it takes place is in the hospital. The purpose is for healing the souls of those present and honoring that God has yoked the child who has departed.