Double-Dipped
Excerpt from Acts 2:37-42
"Peter said to them, 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.'… So those who welcomed his message were baptized …."
Reflection by Quinn G. Caldwell
My parents wanted us to make our own decisions about whether to be baptized. As a young adult, I took the plunge. Years later, my grandmother made a confession. It turns out that she, convinced that my parents were putting her grandchildren's wee souls in danger of perdition by not baptizing us as babies, had baptized each one of us over her kitchen sink a few days after our births.
I was full of chagrin at all the rules that had been broken. One: I was baptized not just in private, away from a congregation, but in secret. Two: It happened without the consent or knowledge of those responsible for me. Three: it was done based on a belief that neither my parents nor I hold. Four: Worst of all, I've been double-dipped.
Looked at this way, it could not have gone more wrong. Looked at another way, though, it really couldn't have been more right: One: My parents thought carefully about their children's baptism, and made a decision that had integrity. Two: My grandmother did what she did for love of grandchildren she believed to be in extremis. Three: Knowing my grandmother, I guarantee you that no font has ever witnessed a baptism sweeter (or crazier) than the ones witnessed by Grandma Stell's kitchen sink. Four: In the fullness of time, having been loved and raised by these people who took baptism so seriously, I came to ask for it on my own, which means that something worked.
So, yeah, I've been baptized all wrong and way too much. But I've learned that God cares way less about rules than I do, and that there can never be too much love poured out on the world.
Prayer
God, pour your love into the world and let it overwhelm us all! Amen.
Excerpt from Acts 2:37-42
"Peter said to them, 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.'… So those who welcomed his message were baptized …."
Reflection by Quinn G. Caldwell
My parents wanted us to make our own decisions about whether to be baptized. As a young adult, I took the plunge. Years later, my grandmother made a confession. It turns out that she, convinced that my parents were putting her grandchildren's wee souls in danger of perdition by not baptizing us as babies, had baptized each one of us over her kitchen sink a few days after our births.
I was full of chagrin at all the rules that had been broken. One: I was baptized not just in private, away from a congregation, but in secret. Two: It happened without the consent or knowledge of those responsible for me. Three: it was done based on a belief that neither my parents nor I hold. Four: Worst of all, I've been double-dipped.
Looked at this way, it could not have gone more wrong. Looked at another way, though, it really couldn't have been more right: One: My parents thought carefully about their children's baptism, and made a decision that had integrity. Two: My grandmother did what she did for love of grandchildren she believed to be in extremis. Three: Knowing my grandmother, I guarantee you that no font has ever witnessed a baptism sweeter (or crazier) than the ones witnessed by Grandma Stell's kitchen sink. Four: In the fullness of time, having been loved and raised by these people who took baptism so seriously, I came to ask for it on my own, which means that something worked.
So, yeah, I've been baptized all wrong and way too much. But I've learned that God cares way less about rules than I do, and that there can never be too much love poured out on the world.
Prayer
God, pour your love into the world and let it overwhelm us all! Amen.
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