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Integrated into the service were the six baptisms, all of children ranging from a few weeks to perhaps 18 months. Now, in my past, baptisms were simple, drizzle-a-few-drops affairs (quite unlike those performed at the churches of my full-immersion, more fundamentalist fellow Christians). This one, though, was a joy-filled, wet affair. As the six families came up to the altar, they stood beside a large pottery urn. Then from the side, out marched perhaps a dozen servers, each with a clear, five-gallon bucket, perhaps half-full. These buckets were poured into the urn, which was filled to just a bit more than overflowing. As water dripped and then ran down the steps (thankfully, the floor is concrete), the priest lifted, swirled and blessed the water, taking no concern to avoid causing more water to overflow. (At first, I was a bit apprehensive about the spillage, until I began to understand that this water of life was meant to flow freely.) The baptism itself of all six children was a delight. The first child was naked, held in her father’s arms in a towel. When the time came, he dropped the towel and, holding her under her arms, immersed/dunked her into the urn two or three times up to her shoulders. I suspect the water had been warmed, because the child delighted at this dunk-and-giggle game, as more of the blessed water of cleansing and life overflowed onto the altar steps. The other children’s initiation into the Christian faith was more traditional and sedate, though the communal joy from the pews was apparent from the smiles throughout the cathedral. At the close of the baptismal rite, which was nicely integrated into the Eucharistic service, the priests and deacons, carrying clear glass bowls and fir tree boughs, liberally sprinkled the congregation. As one deacon returned to the altar, he approached one of the priests who, spontaneously opened his arms, and the deacon blessed/doused him with a generous sprinkling from the fir sprig. My point: For me, for the first time, the joy and cleansing of the Water of Life struck me wondrously and powerfully, as the water flowed over the children and the congregation freely and generously, just as God’s Grace was intended. “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost but now am found Was blind but now I see Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away, washed away" -Todd Agnew (Grace Like Rain) John Ingrisano Daily Connections 209 Church Street Algoma, WI 54201 (920) 559-3722 © Copyright 2011 by DoorCountyTravelersJournal.com
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