Letting the Easter Light In

 

The words we are dancing and dwelling this week come from the hymn, “I was there to hear your borning cry”:

I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.

God was there when you were baptized.

God is here with you in this moment.

God promising to go before you as your life unfolds and unfurls from the COVID cocoon. 

I often have thought that our church doesn’t talk about baptism enough.  We have come to see baptism as a one and done sacrament (sacrament meaning that which is a tactile and tangible sign of God’s invisible grace/love).  Unlike communion, which we celebrate once a month, our other sacrament is only experienced when we are fortunate to have a child or adult baptized.  Then, we can feel more like spectators than active participants.  I describe the covenant of baptism is a promise to:

To live among God's faithful people;

Be open to the word of God and participate fully in communion;

Live and learn the faith through your words and deeds;

Read scripture;

And nurture a relationship with the living God through worship, prayer, and love.

Or to say that simply: community, communion, calendar, content, connections.

Take these five words as a way to explore your life today.  How are you living in community with others?  When was the last time you broke bread and sipped sweet juice in remembrance of Jesus (remembering you can do this every time you eat)?  How is your calendar letting your light shine through what you say and where you pour your energy?  To whom are you pouring out your energy (remember the invitation from Tuesday to write to a younger person)?  Have you let the content of scripture interrupt and interpret your life?  And how is worship, daily prayer, and letting loose God’s love going this week?

I know that is a lot of questions and may feel like the daily devotional today is an AP class.  But, God doesn’t give us a grade…not even pass/fail.  God gives us opportunity and life. 

I invite you to let these words roam around your heart.  I invite you to remember your baptism, to put some water on your fingers and trace the sign of the cross on your forehead.  I invite you prayerfully to ponder how God’s prayer heard in this hymn for you might both comfort and challenge you in these days.

 

Prayer: Rejoicing God move in my heart and whole life today with a wisdom I need beyond my own.  Amen.