Near the beginning of the Thanksgiving over the Water in our Baptismal Rite, the priest says, “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.” Last night we welcomed two new Christians into this life of death andContinue reading “Easter and Death”
Tag Archives: Christian
Baptized for the Boring
Like many of my stories, this one is set in a hospital in West Texas, it was a day before I hit a snag in my ordination process, and a patient, not three years older than me at the time had suffered a serious decline; inexplicably, a mosquito bite led to the development of theContinue reading “Baptized for the Boring”
Baptized into Change
Having grown up in a Christian tradition that did not have written prayers, when I joined the Episcopal Church, I immediately felt connected to the beauty of our prayer book and the prayers held therein. It didn’t take long for me to be drawn to our petition “that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful; andContinue reading “Baptized into Change”
Sighs Too Deep
I was surrounded and the room filled with the loud sound of a family presenting to God their fears, their hopes, and their anxieties. In many ways, it was like any other day; I knocked on the non-descript hospital door and introduced myself. I listened as the family shared the terrible news about the patriarchContinue reading “Sighs Too Deep”
Psalm 44: We Sink Down to the Dust
Having not grown up in a liturgical tradition, I was shocked when I first experienced it at the way the rhythm of liturgy and litany resonates deep within my soul. “Don’t the words feel artificial if they are not from your heart and brain?” I was once asked about worshiping in a liturgical tradition. IContinue reading “Psalm 44: We Sink Down to the Dust”
On the Eve of My Ordination
On the eve of my ordination I am overwhelmed. I am overwhelmed with gratitude and joy and fear and hope and love and giddy delight. On the eve of my ordination, I look back, amazed that my life has brought me here; that somehow, despite all the ways in which this call could have beenContinue reading “On the Eve of My Ordination”
Swim Diagonally
The refrain of “name and date of birth” requests were constant while I was in the hospital; during my 11 day stay, I probably recounted the story of how I got sick and the progression of my hospital hopping 30 times. In the hospital, everything is about you when you are the patient. Doctors, nurses,Continue reading “Swim Diagonally”
Anticipation
My first time serving as a lay Eucharistic minister, one of the things that most caught me by surprise was how people of all different sorts approached the altar rail with a sense of Eucharistic anticipation. Little kids giggled with it, worried adults hung their fear on it, nervous newcomers were alert with it, andContinue reading “Anticipation”
Where is the Hope?
We were all sitting around our curry dishes in an annual birthday celebration, when we noticed that the rain that had been going for days took a turn toward the troubling. The rain fell so thick that seeing even a short distance became impossible, so my friends and I decided to cut ourContinue reading “Where is the Hope?”
Becca Kello 