Rev. David Boyd

Dear Fletcher:

I thought I'd write you a letter today in the hopes that you'll read one day when you're older. This is the day of your baptism, August 9^th, 2009. I've written this so that everyone who is here can listen in.

Welcome to the family, Fletcher. Among other things, baptism is how we welcome folk into the church community and we are delighted to welcome you this day. Baptism means a lot to many of us. When we watch the baptism of young children, it reminds us of our own baptism, but it also reminds us that we are all children of God at whatever age of life we are. The water is so symbolic of new birth, new life and new beginnings and we all participated and felt that water on our own foreheads when we saw you baptised today. So, welcome to the family as a brother child of God.

In seeing your baptism today, we are also reminded of the importance of water and our kinship with the water and the land, with all life. Water is precious, life is precious, your life is precious and our lives are precious... and so we are connected together by the strand of life that runs through all things. And as spiritual people, we believe that this strand of life is the Spirit, the breath of God that speaks and whispers in all things, even the things that we don't think of as having life... things like rocks and water. And yet we know that since God is in all things as well as beyond all things, life exists in all that we see around us. I hope that you will grow up and remember the importance and sacredness of all life, even though things seem to be inanimate—God is part of all life and we are called to reverence the world around us. This is what Chief Seattle said and what we affirmed at the beginning of our service today, as we do to the earth, we do to ourselves, for we are one with this wonderful creation.

Today we celebrate your birth and this special dedication. We celebrate who you are and all that comes with you, your family, your background, your ancestors. You have Cree blood in you as well as European. And today is World's Indigenous People's Day. All of us at one time or another were indigenous to a particular part of the world, living closer to the land and understanding more clearly the connection we have to all life. That way of living is more challenging today. With more people moving to the big cities, we lose our sense of the land and the importance of the land. So I hope that you will take as many opportunities as you can to stay connected to the land and to the sacredness of all life.

I wish I could promise you a life with few worries and no challenges. And yet, what kind of life would that be? Sixty years ago we marked the end of a horrible world war and in the last 60 years there have been more armed conflicts than any other period of history. We developed ways of killing that has brought about the destruction of life in ways that are too dreadful to contemplate. And today we live with the threat of terrorism. I hope that you will not know fear in your life. And I have this hope because there are people, brothers and sisters around the world, who hold a different view of life, who don't believe that armed conflict is the way to settle disputes, who believe that all life is sacred and every child is precious in God's eyes, who believe that we can overcome challenges and difficulties by pooling our thoughts and imaginations, who believe that peace is possible, who think that we can share our resources more fairly. Seek those folk out and do not give in to the forces of fear, power over, and domination. As children of God, we are about freedom and peace... we are about justice and integrity... we are about staying connected and celebrating the sacredness of all life. In these things we find the courage to persist even when the world around us is dark and fraught with danger.

I know that what I've written sounds na•ve and unrealistic, especially when we know the reality of what goes on in the world. You'll know what I mean when you're older. But that doesn't mean that we should ever stop striving to live out these ideals of community and love. Many thought Barak Obama's was a message that was too idealistic. Or many thought that Mahatma Ghandi could never achieve peace through non-violent means. Many thought that Nelson Mandela would never lead South Africa to a new way of being. Many thought that Martin Luther King's dream of a new America was just foolishness. Many thought that Mother Theresa was just a na•ve do-gooder. Many have thought that Chief Seattle's words were just too much innocence. Hildegard of Bingen had visions of God that spoke about a new way of life. Marie Curie imagined new things in science when no one gave her much standing. Jesus was crucified because people found his simple message of love too difficult to live out. But I say, stay true to who you are. Remain true to your values and your heritage. Remain true to love and community. Remain true to the God who gives life and celebrates with us the sacredness of all life.

Hopefully when you're older you'll remember this day. Go out under the night sky and look up and watch the stars and moon and remember. Remember the gift of peace and love that God has bestowed upon this world. Remember the hope that can lead us to imagine a new world, a world free from hunger and want. Remember that you can do anything because there is an endless possibility to life. And remember this day, the day you were baptised, because it is all part of the same gift of love and life.

I'd like to finish this little letter with a prayer that comes from the Native American tradition of the United States. It is a prayer that is anonymous. I have found this a wise prayer over the years.

O Great Spirit
Whose voice I hear in the winds,
and Whose breath gives life to all the world,
hear me! I am small and weak, I need your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.

Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice.

Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people.

Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.

I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother or sister, but to fight my greatest enemy-myself.

Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes.

So when life fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.
 
Traditional Native American prayer from Earth Prayers from Around the World, page 188.