Last winter, I listened to an episode of the podcast On Being featuring Katherine May, in which she discussed the importance of ritual in our lives– to mark the passage of time, to give us hope, to bring communities together at regular intervals. I found the interview so compelling that I’ve been thinking about ritual ever since.
This past week we reflected on Jesus undergoing the ritual of baptism.* In case you hadn’t noticed, baptism is a subject that people have Very Strong Opinions about. Depending on who you ask, it’s necessary for going to heaven, or not; it should be for infants or only for adults old enough to choose; it can be done by sprinkling or only by immersion; it’s a symbol of a promise you make with God or a gift of God’s grace for you.
As a young adult at the peak of my religious fervor, I was bewildered by all of these viewpoints. I took the class that my church required, which helped clarify Presbyterians’ stance on baptism. And I got baptized, hoping that it would make me holier in some way.
Nothing really changed afterwards. I didn’t feel wiser or closer to God, or even more connected to the church I was attending. At the time I was disappointed by this, but now it makes sense to me. Rituals aren’t intended to change reality so much as acknowledge it. This is obvious in other rituals: weddings don’t create love, they celebrate it; a memorial service honors the life that has ended. My baptism didn’t change my relationship with God, but it did acknowledge the importance of that relationship in my life.
For Jesus it seems the ritual of baptism is a moment of rebirth: coming out of the water as from a womb, God crying out in joy at the sight of a precious child. This is why, I think, Jesus’ baptism is “proper.” Before he begins his ministry of bringing people into a different understanding of their connection with God and each other, he takes a moment to affirm his own. He publicly claims his status both as a beloved child of God and as an equal of all those lined up on the banks of the Jordan.
Rituals ground us in our present reality and at the same time connect us to something bigger than ourselves. They have the power to remind us of the good that is all around us, shoring up our spirits for whatever may lie ahead. With a new year stretching out before us, what rituals might you celebrate? Or need to create?
–Erica Lloyd, Seekers Church
