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Open-Air Baptism
(Reflection - December 2000)
Last
night I went to a baptism in the out of doors. It was performed in the creek of a brother
and sister in St. George. The evening was lovely with the most stupendous sunset. We were
surrounded by God’s handiwork -- trees, flowers and wildlife resplendent with the
gold and red of autumn. As the baptism took place the leaves were gently falling down on
us. Soon the trees would be bare, denuded of their glory and falling asleep for the long
winter, reminding us of putting to death the old way of life. But as surely as God said,
"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer,
and day and night shall not cease," so we know that in springtime the trees will
again break forth into verdant leaf and will soon be adorned in all their summer finery.
Resurrection! A new life. How eloquently nature depicted the meaning of baptism as we
witnessed a spiritual birth amidst the parables of creation.
Howard Day |