Pause

Think of baptism as a kind of initiation. It's a starting place, an act that recognizes the new life that is coming to be.

It is a beginning, only a beginning, but it has its purpose.

Being baptized finds its purpose in what follows - a calling to God's way of doing things in a world that often resists, but is always changed by those who seek to walk God's path.

Listen

And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:16-17

Think

Do you know God is pleased with you too? You are a wonderfully-made, precious child of God. You are created in the image of God, and the Holy Spirit lives within you. Your life is a gift to the world.

Words like that are easy to read, but hard to take to heart, especially in a world that seems to bombard us with our shortcomings: you aren’t attractive enough, your grades need to be better, you need to practice more, play harder….

My mom cross stitched for me a sign for my room when I was a kid, and I still have it: “I know I’m somebody ‘cause God don’t create no junk.” I hope if I keep reading it, by the time I’m really old, I’ll see myself like God sees me.

Jennifer Peterson Singh

Pray

God, Let me never forget I am your precious, beloved child, just as Christ is. Amen.

Go

Every day brings something new.
And every day is a holy day
When you claim your baptism again.

May you be filled again with desire,
The desire to be filled by God and God alone,
Baptized to walk the disciple's road.