|
Dear Friends
Peeking into Village life through last week’s compilation of videos, the sight and sound of rainbirds made my heart soar. In a community already prone to dancing, those enormous sprinklers seem eager to start the party, throwing creek-water-hands in the air. I imagine how protecting buildings from fire is not simply their duty; it’s their delight.
Last August, the rainbirds refracted rainbows above a small group ambling down to Railroad Creek: two elementary-age children, their family, a handful of Fullness of God (the congregation at Holden Village) members, and me, serving as Bridge Pastor. On the rocky bank, we remembered that water is special: carving out valleys over millennia, sustaining life in every season, preparing our hands to break bread together. No wonder, then, that with water God pours over us the truth that our first and forever name is “Beloved.”
The Fullness of God members gathered around read Scripture and poetry, lit candles and led us in a rousing round of spitting on the devil. (Go on and try it!) One of them told the youngest children of God: “Your lives will be woven with the lives of all who are baptized, including mine.” Another reminded us that baptism is a public act, affirming our sacred purpose to live in the way of Jesus. As glacier-cold water dripped from the kids, those Villagers formed a link of love around the newly baptized with the laying on of hands.
Presiding at font and table is part of the job description for a pastor, but it’s also a joy. The covenant of baptism summons Christians to public action—from gathering in community to striving for justice and peace—but the summons arrives with a smile. Such work is graced with dancing, the rainbirds call out.
Friends, if you are baptized, then remember and make merry. Regardless of whether you are baptized, run through a sprinkler and give thanks. The Spirit, so often sighing, is singing in the waters. Amen!
| 
