Audaciously beloved!

 Matthew 3:16-17

And when Jesus had been baptised, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

The Spirit always shows up

And her presence 

is as disruptive today

as it was 

when Jesus was baptised by John

Baptised in the face of oppression and despair

Baptised in the grimness of life

For Baptism always proclaims the love 

and the mystery of God

and the presence of the unquenchable Spirit

Whenever baptism is offered:

At the beginning of life

as a symbol 

of hope and promise,

As a rite of passage

building on family tradition,

As a response to faith

that has grown slowly and surely,

At the hesitant request of  a beautiful 93 year old saint

embarrassed  to admit

that she had never been baptised,

Or with parents 

anxious about their newborn’s hold on life,

Whether sprinkled,

Dunked

Immersed

or with the gentlest whisper 

of a touch

Always, always, always.

the Holy Spirit

makes herself known

as angels gather

to sing a Gloria

declaring the audacity and wonder of God

who calls us

Beloved