I really don’t want to seem like I’m attacking anyone, so please take what I am about to discuss in the most charitable way:
I get rather upset by some baby blessings. I don’t think I should, but I do.
It’s not for the cliché blessing, where the baby is blessed to grow up, stay faithful, go on a mission and marry a worthy partner in the temple (which, oddly enough, I have never done in a blessing. The two blessings I have given were rather sparse – so much so that some people remarked on it).
Blessings rely on the spirit, so I don’t want to second guess someone’s potential inspiration. However, in my time I’ve heard some oddly specific blessings, and those are the ones that bother me.
For example, a few years ago I heard a father give his son a baby blessing that his son would become a professional athlete, make lots of money, and through his celebrity status bring many people to the gospel. That, to me, was an uncomfortable blessing, as the father went on and on and on about just how talented his son was going to be, and how much money he was going to make. The missionary thing seemed tacked on at the end. I actually felt sorry for the kid: his dad is apaprently going to be putting on the pressure to excel.
There have been others, but that one is likely the best example. I’ve heard baby blessings that claim their kids will marry millionaires, convert thousands on their missions, or invent the one thing that will change the world for the better. (Note: these weren’t “we hope you will” but “you will”).
But perhaps I’m just too sensitive, or I don’t comprehend the theology of baby blessings. Which causes me to ask: What is the theology of baby blessings? How binding are they? Are these parents overreaching their stewardship, or just couching possibilities into too-concrete predictions?
Thoughts?