First Pres Kids Hayward

Resources ready! On baptism. And water.

I’m a bit biased when I say that we have an exciting Sunday ahead! My youngest will be baptized during FPCH's live zoom worship. Cross all your fingers and toes and pray that there are no insurmountable tech glitches so that this beloved community will get to share and commit to supporting Evangeline (and her family!) on their journey. I always cry at baptisms. I vaguely remember my own (which was on an Easter Sunday when I was 5-ish) and it didn't mean much to me then except... for I got to wear a fancy dress AND hat! But, as I have grown and learned and dug deeper into my relationship with God, Jesus and that pesky Holy Spirit, so has my understanding of baptism. And that's not to say that I always or even today know what those tears are about. It's not to say that I have it 100% theologically right either. But, those tears tell me that there is something there, something divine I am experiencingnot in the water or the baptism itself, but in me. (I'm also a pastor's kid who has been tasked with warming water and running to Target to buy whatever hand towel passes for a baptismal clothso the long-established, ritualistic, human motivations are not lost on me either.) This week's video explores my thoughts on baptism so I won't "spill" them all here (water pun!). So, let's pivot: I invite you this Sunday, anytime it rains or you take a shower to simply think about water. Think about how life-giving, holy it is. How essential. How it exists in an infinite loop. How it lives in our body and flows from our eyes. I invite you to explore the materials for both adults and kids below that ponder the sacredness of water and indigenous relationships with it. And to imagine the Israelite and other pre-colonial relationships to water, as we so often take for granted that the way it is, is how it's always been or has to be. And if you're able to join us on Sunday, pay attention less to what is happening to Evangeline's head (though it is a super cute one), and more to what is happening in you. How is the water, the God, the Holy Spirit welling-up, moving out, flowing from you into the world around?

Am I doing this right? TBD when Sunday’s FPK video airs! #howitstartedvshowitsgoing #howitstartedhowitsgoing #baptism #godsunconditionallove

Adapted by @firstpreskidshayward. Music bensounds.com. Thank you to @deannazandt for the collab!

See you tomorrow at 10:20! Tomorrow we talk about how God created us to live together, planted into healthy soil, drinking from deep clear streams. Invite a friend or bring a sibling! Zoom link in bio or linktr.ee/firstpreskidshayward

I am so excited this week to have the honor to collaborate w/ artist activist Deanna Zandt and adapt one of her comics into a video for kids! I saw "The Unspoken Complexity of Self-Care" awhile back and it popped into my mind when I read the scriptures for this week. I hope you check it out and it resonates for you too. As I read, Psalms 1 + 90, I wondered about how I spend time w/ God, how I study and follow God’s law (we all know what the greatest of those are), how I live ...a life so that the work of my hands may prosper? I started reflecting on my dwelling place, individually, collectively. I'd like to think I'm planted by an abundant, life-giving stream, roots intertwined w/ those of my community, grounded, able to withstand drought and storm. But I wonder if the streams that water me, the soil that feeds me, holds me are more toxic, shifting and devoid of God's commands than I like to admit? Which brings me back to Deanna's comic: especially during these seemingly endless and trying times, I know many of us have been thinking about or seeking self-care. I go to therapy, I #treatmyself with ice cream, I indulge in reality shows. But what does the need for "self-care" (outside of but also exacerbated by pandemic times) imply about our culture? About our soil and water? No matter how much care and tending I give myself, will I bear fruit in this soil? We have all been born into a polluted and sinful world of ruthless capitalism and toxic individuality that departs from the teachings of God about wholeness and mutuality. Understandably, some of you may recoil at attacks on capitalism, because this American version we live is all we've known. I encourage you to look at the caregiver resources this week including one that explains how Christ got it right and where Christians went wrong. It wasn't always this way nor does it have to be. How can we insure that we are truly grounded, that we are living in a healthy forest community? We must work to create a world where all are cared for and nurtured on healthy ground, where everyone is planted by a life-giving stream, where our lives are woven, interconnected and whole.