meditatio at the water's edge

The baptized life? Today it does look like my life. I am not always so sure, but today, in the midst of the regular things of any ordinary day, I have seen God clearly. A baptized life means learning how to love Christ followers from the ends of the earth. It means embracing them as brothers and sisters even thought their understanding of baptism, communion, or church order are different. It means embracing them with a holy kiss in the midst of theological confusion. It means getting an e-mail this morning from an Eastern Orthodox guy in the northwestern part of the United States, and it begins, "Hello Randy... Christ Is Risen." And tears swell in my eyes as I realize that my God is sooooo much bigger than the Calvisist theolgy that was passed along through my grandparents and parents. While much of it is good, it is not the whole picture... or that would be a small picture of an amazing God.

Sure, I keep sinning. I often don't try. I often don't want to. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I am downright selfish. Still, God has taken me and emersed me in his reality. This is the baptised life. And I reply back to to James, the Eastern Orthodox guy, He Is Risen Indeed! And I will call him a friend even though we have never met, and I begin to understand what Christ meant when he prayed that we would be one as He is one with the Father and Spirit.