by Debra K. Farrington
She stood there for a few moments blinking
the water from her eyes before they wrapped
a towel around her and led her off to change
into dry clothes. Hers was the most dramatic
baptism I’ve ever seen in a liturgical
church. The elegant young woman, dressed in
white from head to toe, stepped into a
silvery basin, and instead of the more
customary sprinkling of water, three large
pitchers of water were poured over her head,
soaking her. It was hard to miss the fact
that her sins had, indeed, been washed away
by the water of baptism.Perhaps her baptism was the inspiration
for a spiritual practice that came to me in
the shower years later. As I stood there,
water cascading over me, I remembered a line
from Psalm 51: "Create in me a clean heart,
O God, and put a new and right spirit within
me." Since then it has become my shower
prayer. As water washes away the dirt, I
remember my baptism where God washed away my
sins, and I ask God to again cleanse my
heart as I cleanse my body.
The waters of baptism not only cleanse
our sins, however. Baptism signifies our
incorporation into the body of Christ. We
become inheritors of God’s glorious kingdom,
and we are asked to live and grow and love
within that kingdom, within our communities,
in a way that bears witness to the faith
that we have embraced. We are welcomed into
new life in baptism, and the water that’s
used — whether it is a gentle sprinkle or a thorough drenching — is life-giving.
"Create in me a clean heart, O God." Wash
away my sins. "And put a new and right
spirit within me."
Few of us think about our baptism with
any regularity, but we would benefit from
doing just that. Water, so essential every
day of our lives, can become the memory
hook, the thing that helps us remember the
living water that was poured over us at our
own baptisms.
While washing the dishes, laundering
clothes, mopping the floor, cleaning your
face, or showering, take a moment to
remember that the water of baptism was
sprinkled or poured over you once,
incorporating you into God’s glorious
kingdom. You might even offer God a short
prayer. The line from Psalm 51 is always
appropriate or use another favorite line from Scripture. There’s nothing
wrong with speaking to God from your heart
as you remember your baptism.
Any time you use water during the day,
remember the gift of your own baptism, and
you might find yourself smiling in the midst
of washing those dishes or mopping the floor
just as a congregation (and God) smiled
joyfully when you were baptized.
Resource
Keeping our baptismal promises applies to
all aspects of our life, including
parenting.
Taking the Plunge: Baptism and Parenting
by the Rev. Anne Kitch (Morehouse,
2006) is a wonderful resource.
Debra K. Farrington
has written eight
books of Christian spirituality, including
Hearing with the Heart, in
which you can read more about gifts. See her Web site is
www.debrafarrington.com
This article is published in the
June
2008 issue of Lutheran Woman Today.
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