Baptisms as audacious symbols of hope

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I used to visit an English-speaking church in Zurich. Ever since the start of the pandemic, I started attending the local Swiss church in our village much more often. Partly because this congregation continued to meet face to face instead of virtually, and also because, just before the pandemic, I had gotten to know some people who also attended the church .

The first time I visited the church after the break-out pandemic, there was a baptism. I was really touched. The courage and belief of the parents to bring their child to church and let it be baptized really inspired me, and once more demonstrated to me that God continues His work and plan, no matter what.

Last Sunday, in a time when the war in the Ukraine is on everyone’s mind, there was again a baptism in our local church, and again I was touched. It dawned on me that baptisms are audacious symbols of hope and perseverance in a creation that has terribly lost its way.

I happened to have my Olympus OMD EM 10 II and a 25 mm 1.8 Zuiko lens with me, and, despite the fact that I did not sat in a great position to take pictures, decided to take a few anyway.

I was impressed with the technical performance of the camera and the lens, especially when taking into account the small size of the Micro Four Thirds sensor, the available light, and the distance from which I had to take the pictures, which made some serious cropping necessary for some of the pictures (especially the ones near the baptistery).

Afterwards, it turned out the parents did not ask anyone to take pictures, so they were happy with the results.