Baxter loves running water. He prefers to drink from a spigot rather than from a bowl. If he has to drink water from a bowl, he paws at it until it moves and splashes, creating puddles around the bowl. In Baxter's mind, puddles are a small price to pay for moving water. Of course, his favorite drink comes right from the tap. His head gets soaking wet as do his paws when he places them under the stream. He then licks the pool formed from the water coming off of him. He is willing to bear the discomfort of a wet head and feet for the sake of a fresh, cool, lively drink. Of course, he shakes off after his thirst is satisfied and moves on. I am left with the clean up.
The waters of baptism are stirred for us this Easter season. At the Easter Vigil in our parish, we witnessed a person enter the new life of Christ through this Sacrament of the Church, and throughout this season, we are asked to reflect on the meaning of our own baptism and how it calls us to move our lives.
Baptism splashes in many directions to incorporate us into Christ's life. Through this ritual, we are claimed as a child of God. We are washed of sin and marked with the Spirit of Him at the same time. The mystery of dying and rising becomes the mystery of our own life journey when we become baptized Christians, and we share this journey with all others who are baptized as we become members of the Church, the Body of Christ. Who we are before God and who we are before others are joined in the mark of baptism that identifies us.
When was the last time we thoughtfully and prayerfully drank of the mystery of our baptism? We get a certificate that it happened. We register at a parish as members because we are baptized. But is the water stagnant for us? Is it just a matter of paper forms and Sunday routine that we fill out and follow?
Easter each year turns on the spigot of baptismal water to welcome new Christians into the communion of faith and to renew the already baptized in their faith. Do we allow the waters to wash over us again? We need to drink more deeply of the mystery of dying and rising in Christ. There are many deaths in the course of living, more than just the loss of physical life. A divorce, a retirement, a serious illness, the children leaving home, an economic downturn in the community are all deaths of parts of our lives. How do we rise from them to new life? That is the call of Christ to the baptized.; You aren't allowed to remain dead, to wallow in your grief and self-pity, or to pretend that nothing happened. Your Lord died and rose, and the only way to be faithful to the Lord Jesus is to follow the same path. And we do not walk alone. The mystery only comes together as we come together as the Body of Christ, refreshed and renewed in His Spirit.
Baxter wouldn't think of drinking stale and stagnant water. He knows better. Such pools only breed sickness and disease. We should take heed of this thought when it comes to our faith life. Stir the waters to keep them fresh. Splash about in the baptismal pool to see what needs watered. Get a little wet to understand how to take in the faith in different circumstances of our lives. We never outgrow our need for the waters of baptism to stay healthy in Christ's life.
