National Day of Prayer

I was reminded by a friend's blog that today has been designated the National Day of Prayer in the U.S.  While I am not of the evangelical tradition of Christianity from whence this comes, a day set aside for prayer seems a fine idea.  It may be more on the average person's mind in this time of pandemic, so let's raise our collective voices to our risen Lord.

I belong to the liturgical Episcopal faith, and believe our Book of Common Prayer is full of wonderful prayers for most any occasion.  Since The Lord's Prayer is so familiar and has been discussed by many, I'm choosing another favorite for today's post.  I get chills during the Rite of Holy Baptism every time the prayer is said over the font of water:

We thank you, Almighty God, for the gift of water. Over it the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation.  Through it you led the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt into the land of promise. In it your Son Jesus received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us, through his death and resurrection, from the bondage of sin into everlasting life.

We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism.  In it we are buried with Christ in his death.  By it we share in his resurrection.  Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.  Therefore in joyful obedience to your Son, we bring into his fellowship those who come to him in faith, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Now sanctify this water, we pray you, by the power of your Holy Spirit, that those who here are cleansed from sin and born again may continue for ever in the risen life of Jesus Christ our Savior.

To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.  BCP, p. 306

Isn't that just the most beautiful, complete prayer?  It harkens back to creation and to our heritage in Judaism at the same time that it moves us forward into a life in Christ Jesus.  In our tradition, there are seven recognized rites, but Baptism and Holy Eucharist (Holy Communion) are given special emphasis.  In the service of Baptism, we formally welcome new members into the household of the church.  They (we) go forth from that service changed forever, marked on the forehead as Christ's own.  No wonder my priest gets so excited when someone chooses to be baptized and we get to experience this astounding celebration.

You might wonder what this particular prayer has to do with the spiritual journey of pandemic.  To me, this is a prayer of salvation.  I was baptized as an infant.  There are faded pictures of that day in my scrapbooks.  My loving parents brought me into the church to be blessed and connected to the Holy Spirit for life.  It was a day of joy and celebration for my whole extended family.  Now, when feelings of despair threaten to swamp me, prayers like this remind me that it's all bigger than our present circumstances, whatever they are.

I've been struck over the past year or so with the notion that, maybe it's not death that is the big upheaval, but rather our time here on Earth.  What if we have been with God all along, we get sent here for a time, then go back to God?  While I have moments of fearing death, like any human, what if it is just a returning home?  Every once in a while, the veil between our world and the next becomes very thin, and I get inklings of a bigger existence.  It is times like this that convince me of the connectedness of every living thing.  Hasn't that been one of the main lessons of this unruly virus?  Experts across countries and disciplines have been quoted widely saying, "We're all in this together."

My rare moments of insight usually happen when I'm near water.  Thanks be to God.