Sealed by the Holy Spirit

I often cry at baptisms. The promises that parents and sponsors make, the promises that God makes through baptism and the promises of the long life ahead for the baby all push my sentimental "buttons".

Today we had an adult baptism. I cried. The tears today weren't sentimental, however. They were a new realization of what baptism truly means.

A fifty-ish couple began attending our church during the summer. I sat next to them a couple of times and they were quite friendly and that the man tenderly doted on his wife. I noticed that the man took communion but his wife did not. I also noticed that the woman's physical condition was obviously changing from week to week: from somewhat unsteady on her feet, to firmly holding on to her husband, to today using a wheelchair.

Today the woman was baptized and her husband affirmed his baptism. Three pews were filled with proud relatives and friends. Grandchildren watched their Grandma receive the sacrament. Photographs were taken. Two members of the congregation served as her sponsors. Following the baptism the woman was wheeled to the center aisle where she positively beamed and said, "Thank you" over and over again. Later in the service she communed for the first time.

I do not know any details of the woman's health situation, but her spirit was aglow today. She has been "sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever" and she knows and understands that. She smiled, we smiled, and I know God smiled, too!