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This Week
This week at praxis...The Baptism of Shovana Rose Rydeen
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a child, whom he put among them, and
said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you
will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my
name welcomes me. ----Matthew 18:1-5
Thou hast made me known to friends whom I knew not.
Thou hast given me seats in homes not my own.
Thou hast brought the distant near and made a brother of the stranger.
When one knows thee, then alien there is none, then no door is shut.
Oh grant me my prayer that I may never lose the bliss of the touch of the
one in the play of the many.
---- Rabindranath Tagore
The main reason that I make Sam go to church is that I want to give him what
I found in the world, which is to say a path and a little light to see by. Most
of the people I know who have what I want -- which is to say, purpose, heart,
balance, gratitude, joy- are people with a deep sense of spirituality. They are
people in community, who pray, or practice their faith: they are Buddhists,
Jews, Christian -- people banding together to work on themselves and for human
rights. They follow a brighter light than the glimmer of their own candle: they
are part of something beautiful. I saw something once from the Jewish
Theological Seminary that said, "A human life is like a single letter of
the alphabet. It can be meaningless. Or it can be a part of a great
meaning." Our funky little church is filled with people who are working for
peace and freedom, who are out there on the streets and inside praying, and they
are home writing letters, and they at the shelters with great platters of food.
----Annie Lamott, Traveling Mercies
The only answer in this life, to the loneliness we are all bound to feel, is
community. The living together, working together, sharing together, loving God
and loving our brother, and living close to him in community so we can show our
love for Him. We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the
only solution is love and that love comes with community. It all happened while
we sat there talking, and it is still going on. ----Dorothy Day, The Long
Loneliness
Questions:
- How does the presence of children help our worship and life together as a
community? Is Jesus really present in a little child?
- Part of the sacrament of baptism involves the community’s promise to
"accept as our sacred responsibility to help Shovana Rose grow, together
with us all, to full humanity as we see it in Jesus Christ our Lord."
It's easy to say you'll help guide Shovana when she is a baby, sweet, and in
minimal need of direction. How will you do this when she is not a baby, not
acting sweet, and in grave need of direction? How do you negotiate this with
Patricia?
- How will you support Shovana in the praxis community, in your family, as
Patricia’s friend? How does your understanding of God and your spiritual
life affect your relationship and support, with and for Shovana and Patricia?
~~~
Congregational RESPONSE TO BAPTISM: We welcome Shovana Rose joyfully and
reverently as a member of our family, the family of God. We offer ourselves to
be the sisters and brothers, uncles and aunts, grandfathers and grandmothers in
Christ to surround Shovana Rose with Godly love. We accept as our sacred
responsibility to help Shovana Rose grow, together with us all, to full humanity
as we see it in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
During prayer time today you are invited to write prayers of
blessing for Shovana; please put them in the open basket on the altar.
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