Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

By Juli Reinholz, 3rd year Master of Divinity student

THANKSGIVING OVER THE WATER (Paragraph 3)

The Lord be with you. And also with you. Let us pray.

Pour out your Holy Spirit, and by this gift of water call to our remembrance the grace declared to us in our baptism. For you have washed away our sins, and you clothe us with righteous- ness throughout our lives, that dying and rising with Christ we may share in his final victory.

All praise to you, eternal Father, through your Son Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever. Amen

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When not a student at Garrett-Evangelical I live on an island in the Puget Sound. The best mode of transportation from the metropolis of Seattle to rural Whidbey Island is by ferry. There is no better way to de-stress from the busyness of the ‘mainland' than to sit on a ferry for 15 minutes and be carried by and through the water. The trip is not always without its perils, there are days when the wind is howling, the rain is pouring, and the waves toss the ferry, but even those days call to mind the washing away of sins, troubles, and the trials of this life.

As I meditate on this prayer over the water - I can't help but think of baptism, the Holy Spirit, and the gift of water in terms of taking off the day-to-day life and being clothed in the beauty and fullness of a life lived in Jesus Christ. That is just what riding the ferry does - as the water flows under the ferry you can feel the release of the stress and craziness of traffic, people, and climbing the ladder of success. As I hear the lapping of the water alongside the ferry, I realize I am putting on a whole new wardrobe of clean air, eagles in flight, and the glory of the mountains. Like dying and rising with Christ - the ferry gives me a chance to leave behind all the worries and pain and again enter a world where I can remember God's amazing grace and share in the abundance of baptism.In this Lenten season may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ flow over you as the water of your baptism.