Living in baptism

I am a very, very fortunate person.  Through some twist of fate, it seems that a trip to the beach has, for the last few years, fallen on the week of my birthday.  So this year, again, I had the chance to celebrate the anniversary of my arrival on this little planet from a beach in Mexico. But this year was not by any imagination business as usual on our few days in the sun. This year, instead of sitting comfortably on my beach palapa bed  in the shade and watching the fun in the waves, I decided make a change.  I actually got in the water. Well, it wasn't really a decision -- not like deciding which book to…
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One year ago today…

One year ago today, I was baptized at the Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, DC.  I thought about this anniversary all day yesterday -- I can't quite decide whether I should commemorate the anniversary as the third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Joy, each year, or whether I should stick to the actual date, which is  today, December 13.  Perhaps I shall just commemorate both from now on, as it is a choice and a date that I will choose to celebrate and remember all my life long. If you want to read again or for the first time about my experience of baptism, you can do so here. …
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Yes, Lord, I guess I really did hear you correctly…

Last Sunday, I was baptized.  It's not that I had not been baptized, I had.  And it was not that I had not been baptized as an "adult", because I was 12 at the time of my first baptism. But during the course of our preaching class this fall, we read parts of Barbara Brown Taylor's The Preaching Life.  In that book, she talks about how the preacher is really just someone that a community has decided to support in their full-time study of the Gospel, so that that person can act as a conduit between the community and God.  And part of that job is for the preacher to…
Read More

Living in baptism

I am a very, very fortunate person.  Through some twist of fate, it seems that a trip to the beach has, for the last few years, fallen on the week of my birthday.  So this year, again, I had the chance to celebrate the anniversary of my arrival on this little planet from a beach in Mexico. But this year was not by any imagination business as usual on our few days in the sun. This year, instead of sitting comfortably on my beach palapa bed  in the shade and watching the fun in the waves, I decided make a change.  I actually got in the water. Well, it wasn't really a decision -- not like deciding which book to…
Read More

One year ago today…

One year ago today, I was baptized at the Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, DC.  I thought about this anniversary all day yesterday -- I can't quite decide whether I should commemorate the anniversary as the third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Joy, each year, or whether I should stick to the actual date, which is  today, December 13.  Perhaps I shall just commemorate both from now on, as it is a choice and a date that I will choose to celebrate and remember all my life long. If you want to read again or for the first time about my experience of baptism, you can do so here. …
Read More

Yes, Lord, I guess I really did hear you correctly…

Last Sunday, I was baptized.  It's not that I had not been baptized, I had.  And it was not that I had not been baptized as an "adult", because I was 12 at the time of my first baptism. But during the course of our preaching class this fall, we read parts of Barbara Brown Taylor's The Preaching Life.  In that book, she talks about how the preacher is really just someone that a community has decided to support in their full-time study of the Gospel, so that that person can act as a conduit between the community and God.  And part of that job is for the preacher to…
Read More

Living in baptism

I am a very, very fortunate person.  Through some twist of fate, it seems that a trip to the beach has, for the last few years, fallen on the week of my birthday.  So this year, again, I had the chance to celebrate the anniversary of my arrival on this little planet from a beach in Mexico. But this year was not by any imagination business as usual on our few days in the sun. This year, instead of sitting comfortably on my beach palapa bed  in the shade and watching the fun in the waves, I decided make a change.  I actually got in the water. Well, it wasn't really a decision -- not like deciding which book to…
Read More

One year ago today…

One year ago today, I was baptized at the Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, DC.  I thought about this anniversary all day yesterday -- I can't quite decide whether I should commemorate the anniversary as the third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Joy, each year, or whether I should stick to the actual date, which is  today, December 13.  Perhaps I shall just commemorate both from now on, as it is a choice and a date that I will choose to celebrate and remember all my life long. If you want to read again or for the first time about my experience of baptism, you can do so here. …
Read More

Yes, Lord, I guess I really did hear you correctly…

Last Sunday, I was baptized.  It's not that I had not been baptized, I had.  And it was not that I had not been baptized as an "adult", because I was 12 at the time of my first baptism. But during the course of our preaching class this fall, we read parts of Barbara Brown Taylor's The Preaching Life.  In that book, she talks about how the preacher is really just someone that a community has decided to support in their full-time study of the Gospel, so that that person can act as a conduit between the community and God.  And part of that job is for the preacher to…
Read More