Atonement

January 10, 2010

My husband was baptized today. It was a wonderful event...albeit one that six months ago neither of us considered necessary. We have both been Christians for over 3 years now. We came to Christ through Christ's Sanctified Holy Church in Chesapeake, VA in October 2006. At the time, our church did not practice water baptism, rather a process of forgiveness and sanctification. I still feel this practice is very valid and quite real.

However, when we desired to become members at Edgefield Baptist, one of the requirements was that you had to have been baptized in water. For me, this was not a problem. I was raised Southern Baptist and baptized when I was 10 years old. For Rick, being raised Catholic however, this presented an issue. Although our pastor did not doubt Rick's sanctification and salvation, it is a requirement of Edgefield Baptist Church that all members be baptized, that is to say dunked, in water.

At first, we both looked upon his baptism as simply a physical symbol of the work that had already taken place in my husband several years ago. But after experiencing the physical act of baptism today he remarked to me that he felt he had taken "the cleanest shower of his life." What an amazing blessing that God can turn a simple act of dunking one's head under water into a beautiful cleansing symbol of His love for us!

Something else happened to me today as well. I found out that I hurt a dear friend. I won't get into the details...for they are far to personal, but I feel I should share how much it sorrowed me to know that my thoughtless "blogging" had hurt this friend. Often we type messages via e-mail, text, Facebook, or blogs and because we are not physically confronted with the person or people we are addressing, we fail to consider the impact our words, or lack thereof, may have. Sometimes it is better to put down the keyboard or text-pad and just call the person you want to talk to....or better yet, visit them in person. Our society has become so technologically connected via electronic devices that we are all becoming socially isolated.

So my missive to you tonight, my dear friends, is to call someone, visit someone. Tell them you love them in person or at least on the phone. Send them a card, with a personal message. Connect without the use of your computer or cell phone text message!

Love & Prayers....Meridath