The subject of baptism may bring up a lot for us, depending on our experience with it. The history of the Church in relation to baptism has been complicated. Whole denominations have broken off specifically because of what they believe about baptism: how to do it, to whom, and the theology behind it have all been sources of conflict in the Church. In the 16th century, some Christians were actually executed (drowned, if you can believe it!) for their practices related to baptism. So it makes sense that it would bring up some conflicting emotions for us, if our faith journeys have included tensions between different streams and their beliefs around this practice. We may have been baptized as infants, children, or adults. We may have been sprinkled with holy water or immersed in the waters of a baptismal, a pool, or the ocean. Some of us may be new to this whole thing, and still aren’t quite sure what to make of this practice. So this week’s theme of “remembering our baptism” might feel pretty complicated. But maybe this is an opportunity to lean in to all that, to let God help us reimagine what this whole “baptism” thing might mean for us, in our life of faith. We have been sitting with the belovedness that Jesus experiences at his baptism, and the ways he takes us with him into that place. Your experience of knowing yourself as the Beloved may have coincided with your baptism or that may have come later (or much earlier!—again, depending on your particular story); but let’s keep leaning in to both the waters (however that looks) and the belovedness together this week. What invitations do you sense coming up in you as you consider your own history with baptism and story of belovedness? What might it look like to revisit some of those places this week, to lean in creatively—perhaps particularly where you have some sense of tension, confusion, or complex emotions around it all? How is God inviting *you* to remember baptism this week?

Posted by Jamie Bonilla at 2022-01-26 15:11:46 UTC