Sunday we took a brief trip to Goderich and the Beach. The sun, the two-toned lake, and the cloudless sky were restorative. The water was early June temperature--it made my feet and legs ache. I have a bit of a ritual with Great Lakes and the Oceans--I always attempt to overcome my natural reluctance and jump into the water. (I mean at normal times of the year... I am not planning on joining the polar bear club anytime soon). I almost always find the cold is a bit more manageable than I originally assume it will be, invigorating really.
Sam was out there repeatedly dunking himself--crying out "one, two, three." I thought to myself: in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
I was baptised around this time of year. I believe I was 13 or 14. It was a big deal. I was baptised with my best friend's younger brother and another friend's Mom. I remember being very scared and embarrassed in that teenage angsty sort of way, but I had been reading my Bible frequently and felt a sense of strong conviction reading about Jesus' baptism.
It was a simple thing, but it was one of the first times I remember choosing to be brave. These memories flooded over me as I jumped into Lake Ontario this week.... the sense of letting go, the sense of relief when the water wasn't as bracing as I feared, the reminder that I can overcome my fears, the sense of cleansing and refreshment.
We are told in Scripture that in baptism we recall that we have been buried and raised with Christ Jesus. Baptism is death and resurrection at the same time. I wasn't baptised a Mennonite or even baptised into church membership. Right now when so much that I loved and worked for the last 5 years, the last 10 years, the last 20 years is feeling stripped away... I remember my baptism. I remember that I can be brave because of God's promised presence. I remember that I can be brave because the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is present in my own life. I remember that I can be brave because I remained joined to Christ even if important human associations are stripped away. I have spent a lot of my early adulthood looking askance at my "just Jesus and me" faith of my childhood, but boy, sometimes you need it. I need to remember that Jesus is close, proximate, ever-present and as Paul says: "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus or Lord."
