Links
1. Video
2. Water Homily from Romans 6:1-11 Rev. Becky Zartman
“Do you remember learning how to float?
“Learning to float is not easy. The great irony of learning is that the more you try to control the water, the less you will float. And the less you float, the more water will get in your eyes and nose, making you even more panicky, and even more likely to try to thrash about to stay on the surface, which means you’ll inevitably go under the water. This is a vicious cycle. Fear and the need for control are the enemy of floating, and so the first, and most difficult part of learning to float is learning how to stay calm despite feeling out of control.
“The only way to learn how to float is to make friends with the water. You need to trust that the water will hold you; that the nature of the water itself means that you can stay serenely on the surface, calmly breathing the air you need to survive, being cradled by the water. Once you have learned how to surrender to the water, to trust the water, floating becomes a joy. A joy that could one day save your life.
“Baptism is learning how to float. Baptism is a sacrament of surrender, the sacramental act of letting go of fear and control, making friends with the unknown, and beginning to trust that God will sustain you, even in the midst of chaos and death.
“On my first inquirer’s visit to the monastery, when I was not at all sure that I wanted to do this, I asked each of the Brothers, “Why are you here?” One of the Brothers responded immediately that his vocation as a monk was closely linked to the fulfillment of his baptismal covenant. That was a very deep and important moment for me, the idea that a particular vocation like monastic life is simply an outgrowth of a larger vocation, the vocation of being a Christian which we receive at our baptism.
“Being plunged into the water of baptism is a rich symbol of participation in the dying and rising of Christ. In ancient baptisms, the newly-baptized were clothed in a white robe, signifying their new life. At each stage of monastic life, the Brother is similarly clothed – first, with the habit when he becomes a novice; then, with the knotted cord when he takes his first vows; and finally, with a ring when he makes his life profession. In this way, we take on a new identity, as we did at our baptism; these signs signify that he is being ‘clothed’ in his vocation, one step at a time.
4. Activities
March 8 – Worship in Community. View the Signs of Life – Water video
March 9 – Read Proper 15 (BCP 232). Sit silently. Invite God to speak through this reading.
March 10 -Jesus says “I am the way and the truth and the life”. What in your life needs to be entrusted to Jesus?
March 11 – Confess sins to God. Receive the grace of Jesus and begin again.
March 12 – Who do you know who is weathering a storm? How can you be a life raft for them ?
March 13- Ask God to help you forgive those who have hurt you