On water + rethinking baptism
All summer long, we’ve been spending our 4th Sunday “Church in the Wild” gatherings near water. It has certainly helped to have a place to cool off in the scorching heat; but, I think we’ve gained more than just a reprieve from the hot temps. These gatherings have helped to rekindle a deep appreciation and reconnection with water, and a reminder that she is one of our most vital and life-giving resources.
As we floated down the Ichetucknee last Sunday, I was reminded that our rivers and oceans are teaming with life. We caught glimpses of birds, turtles, fish, and other critters who call the waters their home. Dragonflies danced by, herron feasted on minnow and large trees grew out of the riverbank edge offering much-needed canopy. Nourishment, growth, resiliency, and new life were palpable.
It’s no wonder that water is such an essential element in the story of Scripture. Not only are the waters a place where important life events take place, but they also symbolize liberation, healing, new life, vision, renewal and possibility. Stories involving water almost always also include unpredictability and invite vulnerability. When God hovered over the chaotic water of creation, something new and unimaginable came into being. When Jesus entered the wild waters of baptism, something new and unexpected began to unfold through him.
All these reflections on the rich symbolism of water have me wondering about baptism.
In her book, Church of the Wild, Victoria Loorz, writes “Baptism into a river is a wilderness immersion that initiates an intimate, vulnerable union with the living world”, but we have seldom thought about it that way. In fact, we have so sanitized baptism that it most often happens completely separate from nature and is more focused on “personal salvation” rather than entering into union with creation.
I want to help us rethink that a bit.
What if what we say and experience in baptism is not just about ourselves, but about our intention to live more connected and more responsibly within the whole of creation?
What if we entered the water not just to confess our personal belief, but to express our intention of joining in the healing and renewal of everything?
And instead of entering the waters of baptism pretending that we have faith figured out, what if we entered acknowledging the vulnerability, the doubt, and the unpredictability that is an inevitable part of any real walk by faith?
Prior to Sunday, the last time I stepped foot into a river was during my trip to the Holy Land. As part of our pilgrimage, we stopped off at the Jordan River. Despite its commercialization, it was easy to see that the place where Jesus and his contemporaries experienced baptism was a lot more rugged than our typical church settings. And while it isn’t really important how muddy we get when we plunge into those waters, it does matter how we think about them.
What does baptism mean to you? What has it meant in the past and what does it mean now? As we prepare for our annual beach & baptism celebration in September, you are invited to reflect on these questions. If you are someone who has been considering entering the wild and being baptized into the way of Jesus, let’s talk more about it. If you are someone who was baptized and has had a major faith shift since then, I’m excited to share a new baptism liturgy I’ve been working on that helps us reimagine and reconnect with this ancient ritual.
Wherever you are, whether you are excited or unnerved by this conversation, we would love for you to join us as we experience the beauty, possibility, and new life the water offers all of us.
peace + love,
susan