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So, I’ve been asked to give the Holy Ghost talk at my niece’s baptism, and I’m trying to figure out what to say that feels genuine while I’m still not totally sure what I believe about the Holy Ghost. Her dad has also recently stepped away from the church, so I want to be respectful of him and where he’s at as well. Any ideas/suggestions about how I should approach this talk? Should I just go along and say all the typical things people typically say for this kind of thing? Or what do you guys think? That really depends a lot on you and what you’re willing to do. I was asked once to do that talk (post faith crisis) and politely declined, but it sounds like you’re past that point. From the “focus on what you do believe” standpoint, what do you believe? My own point of view makes this very difficult because I don’t especially believe in the Holy Ghost/Spirit (or the opposite supernatural mind influencing). If you have some belief in the Holy Ghost, go with that. There’s also the sort of fall back “We’re taught….” or “We believe….” if that works for you. I gave a really short talk at my daughter’s baptism tying “the gift of the Holy Ghost” to the gifts given to the children in C.S. Lewis’s “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” focusing on how the gifts were given with love by One who Really Knew Children. I also tied it into “community membership and belonging” at church. As a parent who was straddling the agnostic/atheist line, I could talk about my “hopes” for my child being blessed by God, and wording it in such a way that the more faithful members of the community coded it as “a suitable faith talk”. It was one of the shortest talks in history that I am aware of (for other reasons), but key family members thought it was actually really nice.
I gave the holy ghost talk for one of my children. I remember telling them that the gift of the Holy Ghost was like an internal compass that helps the child know what is right for them. As the child grows, there will be many choices. Many well meaning people, even parents will give advice and act as a guide for a time based on wisdom that was right for them. There sometimes comes a point where the child needs to know for themselves what direction they should take and who they should become. The holy ghost is a member of the Godhead that knew us very personally in the spirit world and knows aspects of ourselves that we have forgotten and not yet rediscovered. The gift of the Holy Ghost is to receive nudges from time to time to be brave, to take a risk, to do something unexpected and reclaim some of our premortal personality. My hope is that the child can learn to trust their internal voice and feel empowered to chart their own path and captain their own ship.
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