reflection by David for August 21, 2011

On the Occasion of the Baptism of Lillianna

Dear Lillianna:

It seems that it has become a tradition for me to write letters at times of baptism; so I continue that today on the occasion of your baptism, and write a letter to you, which everyone present is able to hear.

In the way of Paul, the apostle, whose letter to the church in Rome we read earlier, I begin with a blessing. May the love and grace of our Creator, the hope and peace of Jesus, and the guidance and open possibility of the Holy Spirit be with you.

You have had a challenging start to life and we all, in your new church family, hope that you are doing well and that you will have a healthy childhood. You have been held in our prayers and our thoughts as your great grandmother has informed us, from time to time, about your recovery. We wish you a long life and many blessings ahead of you. And we hope that the prayer shawl we presented to you, which will keep you warm, will also remind you of God's presence in your life and our hopes and prayers for you.

I wish that I could guarantee that your baptism today and the prayer shawl that we have given you will keep you from all harm. But as you have already learned, although you may not remember, life can be challenging and full of difficult moments. And yet, your baptism is a reminder to us all that God is about life and giving life and creating new life. God is our constant companion, holding us gently and surrounding us with light and love. God does not desire bad things for us. It is not God's will that some should suffer and others not; it is not God's will that some people should face loss prematurely. It is God Nothing is ever truly lost that is shared with others. Knowing this, how can we jealously hoard what we have been given?s will that all live with an abundant and over-flowing goodness, love and hope.

Sometime later in your future, when you are older, you may find out about some of the things that happened in the year in which you were born. This has been a year of unrest in the world. Young people are upset about their lack of future and the undemocratic ways in which governments seem to perpetuate themselves. Many feel hopelessness and so have rebelled against the status quo. While it seems that there are always people who will take advantage of this kind of protest and become violent or want to break into stores and steal, there seems to be a genuine desire for the world to be more fair, more egalitarian, more hope-filled, and more loving. As people of faith, we support efforts to make the world a more loving place in which to live and a more hope-filled place for people of all ages and stages in life, all of which we hope will happen without violence.

And that's what baptism means, in many ways, feeling hopeful when all around us feel cynicism and despair. Being part of a family of faith, being baptised into the Christian Church, plugs us in to the Spirit in a new way and invites us to live life from a place of love and light rather than fear and despair.

The true leaders of our world are people of compassion, understanding and thoughtfulness, and they want to lead us in the ways of hope, love and light; sometimes we don't listen to those voices strongly enough. They are loving people who seek justice for all. I mentioned Paul earlier. He wrote to many young churches and to the church in Rome he said, "do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good, what is acceptable, what is perfect." The true leaders of our world are humble, caring people who seek the common welfare of others, and they aren't always in elected office. They are often in our families, among our friends, in our communities.

So what does it mean to be good? It doesn't necessarily mean that we are supposed to be "goody-two-shoes." We are supposed to be real people who make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. But being good is about making the world a better place. It is about keeping the values of love, compassion and kindness front and centre in our lives and living those values. It doesn't mean that we will always live up to these values—for who of us is faultless; but goodness calls us back to what is important in life—family, friends, loving those as we would be loved, compassion, kindness. That is what it means to be good, to acknowledge our mistakes and learn and grow.

Paul also mentioned the word acceptable. This is the idea that we are a gift in life to the world and therefore acceptable. The word is connected to the idea of accepting a gift or even making a gift. We are all a gift to the world and we all have something unique and special to contribute and so that makes us acceptable. And never let anyone tell you that you don't have a special gift that is all yours. You are a gift, you are precious, you are a child of God and beloved. It is easy in our world to forget that, especially when people call you names or talk badly about you, usually behind your back. One of the important gifts that Jesus gave to the world is the gift of knowing that we are all special in our own unique ways. We have something special to contribute to the world and no one can take that away from us.

And finally, Paul mentioned being perfect. Being perfect can be a recipe for disaster. In my family, we had one who wanted to be perfect and so ended up with an eating disorder. She tried to be perfect but we aren't. I struggle with being perfect, too, and that has led me into some difficult places in my life. But Paul didn't mean the kind of perfection we've come to think about; he meant having a goal or living into maturity. I believe that this kind of perfection is deeply related to the Spirit and the concept of time; there is a kind of time that is called kairos time. It means that there is a fullness, a ripeness, a maturity of time. It is the quality of looking at sunset and feeling the time slip by. Or when time seems to stop because something is so powerful and wonderful—like the birth of a baby—your birth, your first smile, your first crawl, your first sitting up—that's the kind of perfection I mean. Hang on to that! Hang on to those moments when everything seems perfect, when there is a fullness, a completeness, a maturity. Those are the moments—like this one this morning—that are important in life. Share them with your family and you will know love more fully.

Today, we all wish you every blessing in life, Lillianna, for you and for your family, and for the entire world. We pray for children everywhere who experience difficulties and families going through a hard time, like those in the Horn of Africa, and we will continue to pray for you, also, and your family. You are a child of God, blessed and you are loved! If there is one thing to remember in life, it is that: you are loved and when you are loved, you can do anything!

Amen.