When I was a teenager, I wanted to be baptized by total
immersion. I’d been christened as a baby – sprinkled with Water, but what did I
remember of that ... Nothing! What did it mean to me if I could not remember it
... Nothing!
A wise Minister, whom I fully respected, told me it was not
necessary. I had been baptised, and rebaptism would be meaningless. But I
wanted the emotional high I thought would come from total immersion. Remember,
I was a teen, and emotion was all important. Without the feeling of being in
love, whether with Christ or the latest boyfriend, how could I know love was
real?
It took me many years to understand why rebaptism was
unnecessary. Baptism is not a once for all time occurrence; it is an ongoing
experience. The symbolic sprinkling of water I received as a five week old baby
all those years ago was the start of a life immersed in the God, in whom “we
live and move and have our being”[1].
Jesus told his Disciples, after his resurrection, to “make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit” [2]
,
immersing them in the life of the holy Trinity.
Unfortunately, many baptised persons never realize the joy
of this life in Christ. Whether sprinkled with water or immersed in it, they
are sprinkled with Christianity. Another baptism will not change this. What is
needed is to grasp the reality of the life in Christ that was offered in
Baptism, and live as Christ taught.
Points to Ponder:
What does my Baptism
mean to me? Am I immersed in Faith or sprinkled with religion?
What can I do to
immerse myself in the life of Christ?
Prayer
Holy One, Creator,
redeemer and Comforter, Surround me with Your love, that I may be immersed in
eternal life, Amen
