In the role of rector's wife, I've often had conversations with new parents about whether or not to have their baby baptized, or at what age they should baptize their children. I've seen babies baptized, younger children and teens baptized, and adults who have chosen to live out their relationship with God by the grace of baptism. Many parents comment that after their baby is born, it feels only natural to come back to church after having been away for awhile, realizing that they need some type of assistance in sharing their faith in God with their child. Many parents have expressed the need of some type of prayerful ritual, some type of service in which they offer, and thank God, for their child, and that the bringing their child into the world wouldn't be complete without the baptism. Some baptisms happen at a baptismal font, some near a larger body of water such as a lake or river, and some in pools. Some religions require classes before baptism, some require evidence of participation in the life of their chosen church, and some have very few requirements.
Why parents choose to have their children baptized is a very personal decision. When I was born, you baptized a baby as soon as possible because the theology of those times taught that if a baby died without baptism, they would likely go to hell. We were taught that we were born of original sin, and that baptism, was the guarantee that your baby could enter heaven's gates despite our sinful nature. In these times, fear was at the core of the need to baptize, and really the opposite of many views of why to have our children baptized. The age to baptize depends upon your theology and the religion you practice. Some religions baptize people based on the theology of the need to be "saved" and it is an outward recognition of the need of a savior, the need of a church family to help that person's soul be saved from damnation. In many religions, we baptize because Jesus was baptized by John, and he is the one to model our lives after. We baptize because Jesus called us to go out and baptize. We baptize to grow the community of faith and to help people live out their baptismal promises, and to take our place in the royal priesthood of humanity. And some would say we baptize to make our imperfect selves "perfect". Some people choose baptism simply out of obligation, the "thing to do" after you've had a child, and simply have no intention, desire, or need to be an active participant in the life of the faith community into which the child has been accepted. They're covering their bases and fulfilling a duty. Many times it is the request, and the need of the grandparents that their children be baptized. And some people desire the ritual and the tradition of baptism. It is important to make the entrance of this child into the world ritualized and blessed. I remember growing up amidst the question of whether to have private baptisms or baptisms within the celebration of the liturgy. Many people would check their bulletins to make sure they didn't attend a mass time where there was a baptism because they knew it would be a longer service. And if they didn't check their church's bulletin, and they were surprised by a baptism, they would joke about not doing their "homework". Baptisms are all about the family and the faith community, and it really makes little sense to baptize without the faith community being involved, and the involvement of the family, in the faith community. A minister, priest, deacon, or pastor can represent the community, but without the faith community members amongst the witnesses, the whole reason for requesting the sacrament is lost. The faith community promises to uphold,nurture, and support your child's faith journey. The faith community is offering its gift of love to the newly baptized, their family, and godparents. The faith community and the family both commit to having a role in the child's faith life.
Baptism is a proclamation to the rest of the faith community that your baby was made by God and because God is only love, your baby is a gift of love, reverently made and given to the faith community and the rest of the world. Born of Original Love, all people fashioned from sheer goodness. Baptism is not so much a personal, individual sacrament, as it is a person, baby, child, or adult, that is brought into the web of the living and is joined to everyone else in the community and the larger world, and a belief that I am a part of the Larger Web of Life and how I choose to weave and spin love in this world will connect me to you and widen Life's Eternal Circle.
Water, of course, is a universal symbol of baptism. Everyone of us was formed inside the waters of our mother's center. We grew in darkened womb- waters and were born from waters broken and poured out into a new world, laboring to make a path for the child to move into the light. The baptismal waters in our fonts are simply an extension of our birthing waters, the first holy water that touched us, held us, and helped us grow, and gave shape to our beauty. Scripture is rich with holy waters... the parting of the Red Sea, the water that Jesus walked on, stormy waters, the water in the well, the water flowing from the body of Jesus as he was being Crucified, and the waters of the Jordan where Jesus was baptized. The waters used to baptize call us to recognize that we are a drop of God's ocean, rippling out into the rest of the world. Baptism is our immersion into the waters of love. We drink water, we cleanse ourselves with water, and we are made of water. Baptism is more than the cleansing of sin, more than a drink that quenches the thirst for God in this single moment. It is the faith community's way of saying we will immerse this child in the deepness of God's love today, and till her death. We will help this child feel loved. We will help this child understand what love is and what it isn't. With these holy waters, we will sustain this child's truest nature...love. We will pour our love onto this child's mind and help this child awaken to the power of love and the miracles that result. A power that God has blessed us with, the power that parted the sea, caused a man to walk on water, and filled our wells, our emptiness, with living water.
Oil, or chrism, is another symbol used in baptisms, and is used to anoint the child's spirit, calling forth her baptismal priesthood of peace, where the sign of the cross is made, with the oil, upon the child's forehead. Parents and Godparents are often invited to participate in this anointing, which invokes the blessing of God, our Creator, the Son, our inspired action, and the Spirit, the Giver of all Wisdom, upon the community's royal priesthood, which extends the blessing of God to the child, promising to keep this child on the ordained path of peace. Having been immersed in the waters of love, the child's spirit, can now be kept in the fullness of peace. This child has been touched with the power to create peace, act in the name of peace, and think the peaceful thought. And the community promises to be the teachers of a living and real peace, and will lead the child, through the example of their actions, upon a peaceful path. The oil of priestly peace soothes, calms, and removes all anxious moments and worries the child may experience in life. The weight of the crosses that the child might bear are lifted and surrendered to God by the strength of a sound and steady peace. The cross made upon the child's forehead with the oil of peace, strengthens the mind and enters every thought the child will have, instilling in the child that many of the crosses we bear are created in the mind, and it is the promise of the community to enlighten the child's thinking with the peaceful thought and right action.
A candle is given honoring and acknowledging the light of God present in the child. This child, presented to the community, is light created from light. And the parents, Godparents, and the faith community promise to uphold the light that this child is, and will be, for the rest of the world. The child feeling loved and kept peaceful will enable that light to be a beacon for all of us. Giving this baptismal candle to the child and his family celebrates the promise that day always follows the darkness of night. That the flame of the burning bush is inside this holy child and all of us, and its source of light comes from the holy ground within, where God lives and moves us. The candle causes us to believe and profess the brilliance of the child's dawning. The pillar of fire is handed to the child, the family, and all of us who were once baptized in light. And we profess our faith in Yahweh, the Great Light, the lamp unto this child's feet and this community's path. The light in this child, with the community's love and support, can never be extinguished because it's source is God. The child, now having been immersed in love's waters, and anointed in the oil of peace, is now wedded to the eternal light and our own light shines even more brightly because of the light this child shares.
When we attend the baptism of a child, we are not just watching, we are willing participants in the raising of this child's spirit. Godparents are people who are willing to "parent and raise the God-within" the newly baptized. They are people who promise to pray for the child, to nurture the spirit of the child, and to ensure that this child has everything she needs to grow spiritually. Having walked in love, peace, and the light of faith themselves, they will pass on their knowledge and experience of God to that child, supporting and guiding the path to inner transformation that they will choose. They are a light to the child's parents as well, and partners in growing the spirit of the child, praying together that their child will find happiness and spiritual contentment on their journey. Godparents can play a role in making sure that their godchild follows the greatest commandment ...to love one another as God has loved them. While baptism is a religious sacrament, it is also a ritual of the spirit, a prayerful ritual that the parents and Godparents promise to see carried out in the future through the life of the church and the broader community of Christians. When saying yes to being a Godparent, you are saying "Yes!" to how this child will follow the will of God, found in the path that their hearts reveal to them.
The baptismal gown is worn, clothing the child in everything Christ lived and died for. As the gown is placed on the child, we pray to shed the cloth of our wounds so that we might put on the cloth of resurrection and a new heaven. Woven into the garments of our new selves is forgiveness, compassion, and healing. Baptism gives us the gift of hope in that it is God who will provide for our every need, it is God who will make a new world through our acts of charity.
After the child is baptized, sometimes the minister, priest, or pastor, will ask the rest of the congregation to applaud for what just took place in the sacrament. We applaud the recognition of what this child really is, a holy creation of love, light, and peace. And we applaud that we are so honored and privileged to bring this child up in a faith community, a religious setting, lived out through the prayerful rituals of the heart. We applaud their parents choosing to be a part of a faith family and their desire to be involved in the child's faith formation and the raising of a spirit to its highest purpose and potential. We applaud the Godparents for saying "Yes!" to praying for, and supporting their godchild, as they learn and remember who they really are. We applaud the fact that we live in this world, but we are not of it. We are God's child first, and the time we have together fades way too quickly, is extremely rich in spirit, and filled with lessons of how to love one another.
Every time you wash your hands, swim in a pool, step into the foam of a river, or watch for whales in the middle of an ocean, remember your baptismal call to love, to remain strengthened by peace, and to follow the light. When you turn on a faucet and hear the running water, pray for your godchildren, write them a note and remind them that you are praying for their needs, and you are there for them when their faith weakens. When you bathe your babies, pray that they be immersed in the waters of love and thank God for their goodness, their beauty, and the gift they are to you and the world. If you are struggling with whether or not to baptize your child, don't struggle anymore. Why say no to the power of having an entire faith community's support, prayers, and love? Find a church home, a place where you feel the strength of a prayerful community, and offer your child in the name of love, peace, light, and service.
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