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So, we met at the church yesterday evening-- me, my parents, my grandparents, my great-aunt on my mother's side, the kiddo, with a couple of family friends (one of the elders of the church who was also my high school principal, and his wife who was my English teacher) and the pastor.
If you want a small private baptism, apparently private means nearly a dozen people.
So the pastor pulled me aside a bit, since we'd just met, and he asked me this-- why do I want to be baptized and what do I think it signifies? So I said: because Jesus was literally baptized and we do what Jesus did in the literal sense, and because Jesus was born and died and came back from death, so when we are baptized we are doing that too in a sense, and being born into life as a Christian.
What I didn't say: Because religions have initiation rituals, and this is ours. Because the baby is carried in water in the mother, and born out of that water, and that's why so many faiths have water as sacred.
So then he asked me a surprising question.
Would I like my father to baptize me?
For those who don't know, there are no restrictions on who can baptize, except that both the participants (the person doing it and the person it's being done to) must understand the meaning of the act, and fully intend to perform it.
So, would I? Absolutely. We gathered in prayer for a minute and then he asked me in front of everyone if it was my wish to be baptized, and I said yes.
So my mother and Mrs. N. (the elder's wife, who I've known for 20 years) and I went back into the women's dressing room and got out the baptismal garments. This is a zip-up sort of jumpsuit thing; it's made of nylon that is fairly thick, and it has legs like shorts, so it doesn't float up or show through or cling. This is important because in most cases you are wearing nothing but underwear under it. So they had three, and of course the largest one is clearly marked "medium." Those who know me know that I am not a medium person. So with the help of both women I poured myself in and zipped up, and provided I didn't bend over or take any deep breaths I was okay. (In case you want to know, they do have spare clean underwear if you don't want to get your own wet, but I figured mine were more comfortable.)
So we headed up the stairs from the dressing room, to the pool. This is a small pool with steps down on either side, and the middle area is about 12' by 8' or so, and 3' deep. As promised, it was warm. The pastor and my dad were on the other side, and my dad came down into the pool to meet me. The long side of the pool is also a curtain, which opens to look down over the congregation.
So he opened the curtain, and my father came down into the water with me, and said the words and put me under the water and brought me out. He got kind of wet over the hip waders, but it was okay.
And my mother and grandmother cried, and I laughed and cried, and then we all prayed again and went home and had dinner.
There are parts of this that I can't put into words very well. There are things that I suspect aren't much now, but will grow into something over time.
Mostly, though, I feel right and glad about what I did and what was done. And now I get to move on with my life as a Christian.
If you want a small private baptism, apparently private means nearly a dozen people.
So the pastor pulled me aside a bit, since we'd just met, and he asked me this-- why do I want to be baptized and what do I think it signifies? So I said: because Jesus was literally baptized and we do what Jesus did in the literal sense, and because Jesus was born and died and came back from death, so when we are baptized we are doing that too in a sense, and being born into life as a Christian.
What I didn't say: Because religions have initiation rituals, and this is ours. Because the baby is carried in water in the mother, and born out of that water, and that's why so many faiths have water as sacred.
So then he asked me a surprising question.
Would I like my father to baptize me?
For those who don't know, there are no restrictions on who can baptize, except that both the participants (the person doing it and the person it's being done to) must understand the meaning of the act, and fully intend to perform it.
So, would I? Absolutely. We gathered in prayer for a minute and then he asked me in front of everyone if it was my wish to be baptized, and I said yes.
So my mother and Mrs. N. (the elder's wife, who I've known for 20 years) and I went back into the women's dressing room and got out the baptismal garments. This is a zip-up sort of jumpsuit thing; it's made of nylon that is fairly thick, and it has legs like shorts, so it doesn't float up or show through or cling. This is important because in most cases you are wearing nothing but underwear under it. So they had three, and of course the largest one is clearly marked "medium." Those who know me know that I am not a medium person. So with the help of both women I poured myself in and zipped up, and provided I didn't bend over or take any deep breaths I was okay. (In case you want to know, they do have spare clean underwear if you don't want to get your own wet, but I figured mine were more comfortable.)
So we headed up the stairs from the dressing room, to the pool. This is a small pool with steps down on either side, and the middle area is about 12' by 8' or so, and 3' deep. As promised, it was warm. The pastor and my dad were on the other side, and my dad came down into the pool to meet me. The long side of the pool is also a curtain, which opens to look down over the congregation.
So he opened the curtain, and my father came down into the water with me, and said the words and put me under the water and brought me out. He got kind of wet over the hip waders, but it was okay.
And my mother and grandmother cried, and I laughed and cried, and then we all prayed again and went home and had dinner.
There are parts of this that I can't put into words very well. There are things that I suspect aren't much now, but will grow into something over time.
Mostly, though, I feel right and glad about what I did and what was done. And now I get to move on with my life as a Christian.
