Beloved is enough.

Beloved Is Where We Begin

If you would enter
into the wilderness,
do not begin
without a blessing.

Do not leave
without hearing
who you are:
Beloved,
named by the One
who has traveled this path
before you.

Do not go
without letting it echo
in your ears,
and if you find
it is hard
to let it into your heart,
do not despair.
That is what
this journey is for.

I cannot promise
this blessing will free you
from danger,
from fear,
from hunger
or thirst,
from the scorching
of sun
or the fall
of the night.

But I can tell you
that on this path
there will be help.

I can tell you
that on this way
there will be rest.

I can tell you
that you will know
the strange graces
that come to our aid
only on a road
such as this,
that fly to meet us
bearing comfort
and strength,
that come alongside us
for no other cause
than to lean themselves
toward our ear
and with their
curious insistence
whisper our name:

Beloved.
Beloved.
Beloved.

—Jan Richardson, Circle of Grace

Every year as we approach our annual beach & baptism day, I begin wondering what new connections this ancient ritual will stir up. Because I (along with my faith) continue to be under construction, there is always, always some new way of seeing that springs to life. I wrote a little about this in preparation for the last time we stood on a sandy shoreline to celebrate baptism together. 

This year, I’ve been drawn to the beautiful blessing above by Jan Richardson. In it, she echoes the often underemphasized, but tireless message of scripture and of any meaningful spirituality: beloved is where we begin. 

Despite so much emphasis on “original sin”, beloved is where the story told in scripture begins. The Creator of everything from stars to humankind looked at what had come to life, blessed it, and called it good. Beloved.

Beloved is also where Jesus began not only his life but his vocation. One of the first words he heard as he emerged from the wilderness waters of his baptism was beloved. This will become the identity that moves him to be a healing, just and compassionate presence. It will also become the identity he scatters like seed on all who have been told they are unworthy, inconsequential or unloved. Beloved.

Sometimes, I think we complicate things (I know I do!) and in so doing, we miss the point. The way of Jesus is the way of belovedness and that in and of itself is enough. If you don’t think so, just imagine a world full of people who do not need to prove their worth by diminishing or dominating others. They - we - are moved instead to be conduits of lovingkindness.

Let’s stop minimizing the power of belovedness. As we gather at the beach on the 5th Sunday of September, let’s celebrate baptism as an invitation back to a life rooted in relating to ourselves, our neighbors & this earth as beloved.