01132021 – Mark 1. 4-11 – The Baptism of Our Lord!
There is a cute story that I ran across recently. No name attached. No author. It is not perfect, by any means…but it is insightful.
It is from an “old Brazilian folk tale” that talks about TWIN BABIES in the womb discussing the great question of all time:
“Is there life AFTER birth?”
“There is,” the first baby insists, “there’s a WHOLE WORLD after this, just WAITING to be EXPLORED.”
“I don’t think so,” the second baby countered.
“How COULD THERE BE, everything we NEED is RIGHT HERE. And anyway,” always the voice of reason, “we couldn’t go far WITH the umbilical cord.”
“After birth we won’t need the umbilical cord,” explained the first. “We’ll be FREE.”
“NO UMBILICAL CORD?” the second shouted, aghast, “but the umbilical cord is LIFE, it is AIR, it is NUTRIENTS, it is EVERYTHING we need, how could we live WITHOUT it!”
“The MOTHER will take care of us,” replied the first.
“The MOTHER,” scoffed the second, “don’t tell me you believe in “that OLD FAIRY TALE” of “THE MOTHER.”
“There IS A MOTHER,” insisted the first.
“The mother is ALL AROUND US. The mother PROTECTS us, PROVIDES for us, CARES for us.
Now we only “FEEL” the mother, but after birth we will be able to SEE the MOTHER face to face.
Others have gone from THE WOMB, and the mother took care of THEM.
SO TOO – will the mother take care of US.”
Seeing an opportunity, the second countered, “but NO ONE’S ever COME BACK FROM BEING BORN to tell us WHAT “it is like.”
How can you BELIEVE in something you CANNOT SEE?”
“I JUST KNOW,” said the first, “I can FEEL it. There is LIFE AFTER BIRTH.”
The story is silly and cute to us because we know “HOW IT ALL ENDS.”
We KNOW their argument is COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT.
Because REGARDLESS of what the infants BELIEVE about life after birth… IT EXISTS.
And, whether they BELIEVE IN IT or NOT, the twins WILL be BORN.
Born in A RUSH OF WATER AND BLOOD, born into a BRIGHT NEW WORLD, the DEPTH and the COLORS and the COMPLEXITY of which they cannot EVEN IMAGINE.
And the MOTHER, in our story is only “an abstract idea,” the Mother loves them NOW, even though THEY DO NOT KNOW HER.
Even though they are AS YET only ABSTRACTIONS, the Mother loves them with an “UNBOUNDED love – UNIMAGINABLE love,” so much – that they CANNOT even yet understand.
That’s BAPTISM in a nutshell.
Baptism is God LOVING US BEFORE, DURING, AFTER, and at every moment, and in EVERY ASPECT of our lives. Every aspect…
Like a STONE dropping into a pond, sending ripples through “TIME AND SPACE”, God’s love IS NOT CONTAINED or CONSTRAINED by our ability to SAY, “YES TO IT,” but it moves beyond limitations pulling us deeper into “God’s HEAVENLY embrace.”
This is baptism, it is a PROMISE that WE ARE “children of God.”
It is a PROMISE “totally dependent on God” who MEETS us WHERE we are and WHO we are and says to us, “you are my Child, the Beloved, IN YOU – “I am well pleased.” YOU ARE MINE!
Like the Mother’s love for the “philosophizing fetuses,” it is true WHEREVER WE ARE on our journey of faith whether WE BELIEVE IT or NOT, whether we KNOW IT or not, whether we have BEEN TO THE WATER OR NOT.
WE BELONG TO HIM.
AND ALWAYS WILL. HIS LOVE KNOWS NO END. Amen.