Will you be responsible for seeing that the child you present is brought up in the Christian faith and life? We will, with God's help.
Will you by your prayers and witness help this child to grow into the full stature of Christ? We will, with God's help.
Among
all the joys and tribulations of being new parents, it's tempting to
let these promises occasionally slip out of mind. Growing into the full
stature of Christ can easily become overshadowed by the daily (rather,
hourly) necessities for growing one's child into a plump, healthy, happy
creature. Keeping a baby fed, clothed, diapered, well-rested and mostly
happy for almost a year has at times seemed like all we could possibly
handle. How can we really be expected to provide a spiritual education,
when something as simple as finding time to cook a meal or fold laundry
has been a challenge at times? How does one model a good Christian life
when the highest goal seems to be a few extra minutes of sleep? As it
turns out, the answers are right in the baptismal promises: with God's
help.
As much as we tried to prepare ourselves and thought we humbly heeded warnings from more seasoned parents, we were still shell-shocked by just how much work a baby can be, and to what an extent he dominates his parents' existence. Many aspects of our lives that previously seemed important - careers, social lives, hobbies, health, even personal hygiene - quickly faded to the background when our son was born. However, our spiritual lives experienced a sudden and continuing renewal, from his birth (7 weeks earlier than we expected!), to the subsequent month-long hospital stay, to his exhausting-but-wonderful homecoming, his baptism, and his transition to an easy-going, night-sleeping (thank God!), happily-traveling almost-toddler. Throughout all of this, we have found a renewed sense of gratefulness and joy for our son and for God's help, as well as a sense of tremendous purpose and responsibility. As challenging as the usual pragmatic parental responsibilities can be, the responsibilities demanded by the baptismal promises - the moral and spiritual upbringing of a person - seem far more daunting and far more important. And unlike pragmatic responsibilities, there is no adequate, comfortable level of achievement at which one can rest; the goal is nothing less than growing 'into the full stature of Christ'. For this, we will definitely need a great deal of God's help! And a big part of that help for us has already been finding the wonderful community at Canterbury, where we have truly felt like we've gained an extended family, for Gabriel as well as for ourselves. While our experience is limited to a parenting context, we would venture that the same elements of renewal, responsibility and community are part of baptism in all its forms.
As much as we tried to prepare ourselves and thought we humbly heeded warnings from more seasoned parents, we were still shell-shocked by just how much work a baby can be, and to what an extent he dominates his parents' existence. Many aspects of our lives that previously seemed important - careers, social lives, hobbies, health, even personal hygiene - quickly faded to the background when our son was born. However, our spiritual lives experienced a sudden and continuing renewal, from his birth (7 weeks earlier than we expected!), to the subsequent month-long hospital stay, to his exhausting-but-wonderful homecoming, his baptism, and his transition to an easy-going, night-sleeping (thank God!), happily-traveling almost-toddler. Throughout all of this, we have found a renewed sense of gratefulness and joy for our son and for God's help, as well as a sense of tremendous purpose and responsibility. As challenging as the usual pragmatic parental responsibilities can be, the responsibilities demanded by the baptismal promises - the moral and spiritual upbringing of a person - seem far more daunting and far more important. And unlike pragmatic responsibilities, there is no adequate, comfortable level of achievement at which one can rest; the goal is nothing less than growing 'into the full stature of Christ'. For this, we will definitely need a great deal of God's help! And a big part of that help for us has already been finding the wonderful community at Canterbury, where we have truly felt like we've gained an extended family, for Gabriel as well as for ourselves. While our experience is limited to a parenting context, we would venture that the same elements of renewal, responsibility and community are part of baptism in all its forms.
Thank you, Dan. This blogpost is a real gift.
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