Baptismal Promise and Grace

I felt out of sorts on Tuesday. It started while I was drinking my coffee and doing a crossword puzzle at the table next to the bowed window looking out on the backyard. It hit me that in just a very few days, I wouldn’t be able to look out this window anymore. The out of sorts feeling grew as I felt I couldn’t put together much of a coherent thought in an afternoon discussion with Jen and Nina. After going to reserving our storage space, I went home. I only wanted to curl up and take a nap, but finally I made myself go to the pool, but only because I knew I should.

I got into the water, and it felt like I was fighting against the water even though I had a lane to myself. Gradually, I gave myself over to the water, lengthening my strokes, allowing the very rhythm to calm my mind and my spirit. It seemed as if God was surrounding me with the waters of baptismal promise and grace, reminding me, reminding me, reminding me that God’s promise is sure and for always. It doesn’t depend on how I feel or where I live.

God, please keep reminding me of this in the days to come. My memory can fail so easily. Thank you that your memory is from before time, through now, and beyond all time. As my friend Steve says, “Grace is sufficient.”

Isaiah 49:15-16a

Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.

Truth

Good friends are often the ones who can remind us of the truth. It can be so easy to find myself doubting what I see and what I hear when bombasted with words that throw up a smoke screen and make it difficult to find my way to clear air.

I am thinking of a personal situation where this is the case, but I am also seeing a sense of this in Jesus’ story. On Sunday, the crowds cheered him and shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!” Hosanna means “save us.” They welcomed Jesus as the one to save them.  By the end of the week, many of the same ones who welcomed him were among the crowds who shouted “crucify him.”

After having been betrayed, spending a night under arrest and being beaten, Jesus faced Pilate before the very crowd who had turned so fickle. He might have begun to doubt his ability to discern reality but he was able to hold to the truth. He did not waver.

When I find myself wavering, I sometimes need someone who will remind me of truth. Then I can look at my situation and have greater ability and freedom to discern what is true, and how close I am to it or not.

John 18:37a-38

“For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”

Curiosity Does Not Kill the Cat

Curiosity. That’s what my coach advocates. It makes so much sense that one would think we would all already know that and practice it.

Whether we have been in a relationship for a long time or it is brand new, whether it is for friendship, romance, work or shared activities, curiosity can be a big help. You know those moments when another person says or does something unexpected or that we do not understand, all we need to do is take a curious attitude—“Hmmm. I wonder what he or she thinks about this. I’ll ask.” It’s that last part that gets neglected so often maybe because we don’t want to offend, or seem ignorant, or have to deal with an answer that could be uncomfortable for us.

This goes hand in hand with my father’s adage: if you don’t ask, you have only one answer. If I don’t ask, then all I can do is make assumptions, and we all know what assuming does. Making assumptions are where we can truly offend, or seem ignorant. Learning the truth of what someone else thinks may indeed be uncomfortable, but it is far better to be working for a position of knowledge than of ignorance.

As I was growing up, I do not remember my parents talking over matters where they might have a difference of opinion, or belief. Maybe I did not pay attention enough but I really think there was an unspoken assumption that we were not to go there around issues of conflict.

“If we can stay in a curious mode, learning as much as we can about managing ourselves while listening to the ideas that are in the head of the other, it becomes a whole new interesting world every day.” There would be a great deal less conflict if we took this stance. Thank you, coach, for teaching me.

Matthew 5:33, 37

“And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions… When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.”  The Message

Water Is My Element

I really love water. My parents discovered when I was nine months that I wanted to be in the lake, not on the pier. Since I had not had my typhoid shot they filled a galvanized washtub with water from my grandparents’ house and floated it in the lake with a very happy me in it. I began swimming lessons when I was three years old. I almost drowned in the deep end once but that never stopped me.

When I was in college I got back into the pool, honing my freestyle until it was as smooth as I could make it. My goal was to have an efficient stroke that did not raise a big splash. I swam umpteen laps with a kickboard, and umpteen more with a float between my legs to make my arms work harder. I learned to breathe with just a slight turn of my head to the side. I never did learn a racing turn.

This past Tuesday morning, I got into the pool and swam my entire ¾ mile without anyone else in the water. I was in heaven. I did not have to worry about sharing a lane with anyone. I did not have to contend with waves from anybody swimming in another lane. I felt as if I were one with the smooth water. Speed is not my overall goal. The water is one place where I can be at peace. Even though I have found I cannot do my intercessory prayers as I swim, I feel as though my whole swim is a prayer immersed in the waters of my baptism.

Is there a place where you can be as much at home, and in God’s presence? Offer that place and time in it as simply of prayer of presence with God. Every breath, every stroke is a prayer. No words are needed. Simply be with God.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.