who attended the wedding to create an act of blessing for their 2-year
old son. They had not been active in a Christian church in years, and
were not quite ready to join one just yet, but they wanted something
similar to the ritual of infant baptism for their child. I created a ritual that
was both Christian and contextual--a ritual that reflected their faith but
honored the traditional understanding of baptism as something that was
done in the midst of living Christian community of faith. The rose ritual
within this service is from a Unitarian Universalist friend of mine, the Rev.
Mark Christian from First Unitarian Church of Oklahoma City.
Friends, we gather in this home on this day to call forth that which is Holy
in this world and the Holy that is within each of us, to bless Max, the child
of Alison and John. You are gathered here to share in this moment, not
to simply witness this ritual, but to participate in asking God to bless Max,
to bless those whom love him, and to offer your support, your love, you
hope to this family who wish you to share with them the gift of this child.
And its important for us to remember that the very act of blessing
another human being is a movement on our part to wish, is to grant, to
hope for the best for the one we care for—and the very act of you being
here, in some mystical way, is a commitment on your part to help bring
about the very goodness you wish upon Max. More than anything, God
will use each of you, and others yet to come into his life, to bring about
the divine blessings which we are calling forth upon on this day. To
bless another is to do something, to surround that one with our best
wishes—our very goodness, a goodness God has given each of us—
and that is what we are doing here with Max and his family on this day.
Alison and John,
I want to begin this blessing by asking you to make some promises—
promises that I know you have made to him already, most likely
unspoken, but I ask that you say now with your words what you have
already said with lives.
Do you both promise to love and care for your son for the whole of his
life, guiding him and nurturing him, and when the time comes to let him
go, do you promise to free him so that he may embrace the future God
has for him?
We will.
And most importantly, do you promise to teach him that the heart of the
universe, the One who has created and loved him before he was ever
brought into being, do you promise to share with him the truth that his
Creator is love itself, as the Christ taught us thousands of years ago?
To the gathered family in this room, the family connected to Max by
blood and the family connected to him by choice, I ask you now to make
a promises of your own to Max—please answer with “We will”
Do you promise to love and care for Max as well, honoring this child and
blessing the work of his Alison and John as they seek to raise Max?
Now, Max, you will never remember this moment, but we will and our
memory of this moment and the very memory of God will be enough to
guide you into your future.
In the name of the One who created you, and in the name of the Christ,
who was love made flesh and bone, and in the name of the Spirit, who is
the God within us, we bless you. May God see us in this moment, and
may we help you live out the dreams God has for you.
We have before us two symbols—Water and a Rose. Water is the
commonality of all life. It connects us with all that is and that will ever
live. Water is a sign of life, of the womb, of baptism. Max, through this
water may you come to know yourself as a part of creation, as part of the
community of life. We also have a Rose—the Rose symbolizes both
beauty and the unfolding of life. Max, through this rose we express our
hope that you may know beauty in life as it unfurls for you. Max, the
thorns have been removed from this Rose—we can’t remove the thorns
from the real rose of your life—but we do promise to love you, treasure
you and protect you to the best of our ability.
Max, I touch this rose dipped in the water to your forehead so that your
thoughts may be wise.
I touch your lips with these symbols that your words may be kind.
I touch your heart that you may know love and compassion.
I entrust these symbols to your grip that the work of your hands may be
given to justice.
May the blessings of this day go with you and those who love you now
and always. AMEN
