First Day of Class

I knew Thanksgiving was coming up and I would have a week available to do whatever I needed to do outside of work. I knew I wanted to get baptized. 

I didn't really want to go alone, but I was going to do it one way or the other. My sister found out about my plans and asked me, "So you're going to get baptized?" She said it in kind of a sarcastic way. But I was completely strait with her and said, "Yah." She shifted mood and said, "Oh that's cool. I might want to too. I think it would be good." I was kind of shocked and a little confused. In my head I was like, You know this is kind of a commitment right? Not something you do on the fly just because you feel like it...But I figured a baptized sister is better than not, and who knows -maybe she's found God in her own quiet way and just hasn't been open about it. 

Then somehow word got to my step-mom Kari about our plans to get baptized. Kari has been going with me to church for the past 7 months or so. She decided she wanted to go to. I was really surprised by that. It's just hard for me to see her as a spiritual person since she's more mentally oriented. But I do believe her faith is genuine. 

Today we went to Baptism class. I didn't know what to expect or even how long a program it would be. I thought they might grill us on questions from the Bible or make us prove how committed we were to God. An older man who mentioned he'd been married for over 40 years proceeded to tell Kari, my sister, 5 other women, and I the basic concepts associated with baptism, the logistics of how it would be done, and what the commitment implied. We then went around the room giving a 2 minute summary of the reason we were each going to get baptized. 

The first women teared up and cried a little. She said she had always understood that she loved God but until recently she hadn't known that He loved her back. She said that once she felt His love she knew she wanted to commit to Him. 

The second woman was kind of off-putting. She seemed like a rich housewife who was there because people kept telling her to do it. But she said she had a dream where she saw her name on a baptism certificate and God said, "Just how committed are you?" So she decided to get baptized. 

Then I spoke. But it was Emily I was most curious to hear from. She said she had been to several churches, but she always heard God most at Christian churches. She always felt closer to Him there. And baptism is something she's ready to do. I was moved by the fact that she did connect to God personally. But I was also concerned that she was kind of going along with Christianity because I was. I want her to fully understand the messages and the reasons behind why Christ is the way to go. I just want her to really be conscious of the greater meaning and relevance behind this -not just sentiments and not religious logistics, but the Truth and Wisdom that God given to us. 

Kari spoke. It was kind of funny because she alluded to Mormonism and her negative experiences with that religion, but she referred to it as "a negative religion she didn't believe in". Kari told me that Mormons don't actually baptize babies. They want the consent of the individual. So they wait until the child is eight and is fully capable of making such a decision. Kari said she was forced into the baptism, didn't believe in their traditions or beliefs, but went ahead and did it because she still believed in God. Throughout she always believed in God. And for someone who has had a negative experience with a religious institution and no longer believes in their teachings to 1. Go to a church of their own free will and 2. Still believe in God, is a testament to her spiritual perseverance. 

The next girl who spoke was an Asian girl in her early 20s. Raised Catholic, baptized young, consistently there for God and going to church, wants to reaffirm her commitment by being baptized again. 

The woman after her was in her early thirties and initially looked well put together. She started crying a couple seconds into her story. She had been through a lot of hard struggles and her mom started going to church. And she decided to go with her. She then let God in and felt like he was there for her. She started breaking down. She said her life had changed completely. She "couldn't express it". And yet she did. Nobody cries like that unless they've been deeply affected in a personal way. She said that this church felt like home and she was ready to openly proclaim herself to God. 

The last girl was a woman from South Africa who wore a bright yellow hair tie and a vibrant dress. She said that in South Africa Muslims and Christians get along pretty well and there isn't much conflict. She was raised Muslim (though she had never really felt connected to that religion and just kind of went along with it).  Then she married a Christian and fell in love with Christianity. She said it felt like the truth. She started sneaking out at night to go to distant churches so her parents wouldn't find out. Then she moved to California and her husband started going to this church. She started attending in May and decided she was finally ready to be baptized as a Christian. 

After this session was over I discovered there was no "follow up" class or classes. We just picked a date to be baptized. Thanksgiving weekend. Sunday. 11am service. 

The weird thing is Kari is the most nervous about it. She kept telling me that she wanted a "private" baptism. My sister said, "Why you didn't have a private wedding. This isn't something you're supposed to hide or anything." Smart monkey. I told Kari I get nervous being around small groups of people, but when I'm on stage in front of large masses of people I'm actually not nervous at all. I just kind of see them as one indistinguishable blob. "Hi blob! How's it going? :)" 

I'm not worried. I was a little confused about the whole Holy Spirit thing because the baptism teacher didn't really seem to think baptism caused any sort of actual spiritual change within the person. He said that it was just symbolic -like a wedding ring. He said, "I've seen people who wear wedding rings but aren't faithful. People who get baptized and then turn from God aren't necessarily more 'saved' than those who have been devoted to Him throughout their lives and haven't been baptized". I've heard otherwise. And it was kind of a balloon-deflating-downer view of things since I was there to get baptized. I guess we'll see.