Playing Baptized Barbies

"Will you play Barbies with me daddy?"

Since I know that question definitely has a shelf life, I say yes to my five and a half year old daughter. I suppose it won't be long until I hear "Can I have $30 to go to the movies and borrow the car tonight daddy?"

I don't know how to play Barbies that well. Well, maybe I do. I just don't like it that well. What bugs me is that I know the stories of Barbie better than I know the stories of the Baptized.

I know how to be self-centered, obsessed with how I look and what other people think about me. I know how to put other people down and categorize people according to their socio-economic status. I know how to get a temporary high by buying more stuff that I will forget about in the next couple of days. And I know how to feign "niceness"in order to get what I want. See, I know how to play Barbies . . . and I don't like it so well.

Since last Sunday my daughter really got into helping set up and participate in a baptism renewal service with our church, I thought, "why not let's re-narrate Barbie?" What would a conversation among Baptized Barbies look like? I have to admit it felt awkward and weird as I began to speak as if Barbie were baptized.

When one Barbie asked the other, "Why aren't you wearing a dress?" (with the same tone of voice that you would ask someone, "Why are you such a loser?"). The Barbie replied with something lame sounding like, "I put on Christ and He is all I need to wear." (Told you I wasn't very good at this).

Then one of the Barbies died and that was interesting. Instead of pulling out prince charming to come give her a kiss in order to bring her back to life, one of the Barbies suggested we give thanks for her life and remember that she is with Jesus since she too had been baptized and belongs to Jesus. The Barbies then sat around a table of food and talked about how they missed their friend and told funny stories they remembered about her.

Maybe, with more practice, I'll get better at playing Baptized Barbies.