Today We Celebrate

There are defining moments in all of our lives. When my parents decided to head west from Minnesota when I was five years old. My deciding to attend of University of Washington on a football scholarship.

Some decisions made centuries ago continue to reverberate through the years. The story goes that after Jesus died Saint Thomas went to Kerala India where he converted a small number of families. My grandsons’ family on their father’s side was one of them. That faith and the rituals that go with it have been passed down for 2000 years. What that meant for the grandboys was that before they turned one year old they were welcomed into the church while celebrating the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and communion in a single ceremony. When my wife and I were invited to witness that amazing event I knew it was a big deal. It was only afterwards that I realized how significant a moment it was. Certainly and most importantly for each of those boys. For their immediate family. For everyone there. For those who came before them and all those who will follow. At that moment it was so clear to me that we are not alone but are all in “this” together and somehow connected. During that ceremony we were bound together by music and rituals, gratitude and grace, the seen and the unseen, the past and the future. It was a moment of celebration and a moment to celebrate.