Wednesday, August 16, 2017

An open letter to Oskar as he turns spiritually 2

Two years ago today, my son Oskar, was baptized. After the water was poured on his head in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I put my thumb on his forehead, made the sign of the cross, and declared Oskar Thomas, child of God, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.

And so, Oskar, now 30 months and a day old, I write to you.

You are a child of God, this can't be undone, there are no take-backs. This status means that you are loved, beyond compare, simply for the mass of muscles, bones, neurons, emotions, and other things that make you up. It means that the color of your skin, hair, and eyes are a beautiful miracle. You, my son, are a priceless treasure. Your baptism is a revelation of the truth, God's truth, a truth that by God's grace has been given to us, and a truth we get to share with each other, and with all people.

There's also more to this truth revealed in your baptism. Truly, God didn't begin loving you on the day you were baptized, nor did God give beauty to your life on that day. No, that day didn't change how God felt about you, rather, it was a day where we could see in the water and word poured out upon you how God feels about all people, and all of creation. It is a day where we experience together the promise that God will not fail to continue to send this abundant love and life into our world, and nothing we can do can separate us from it. This is Good News!

Still though, there's more. We, human beings, fail at love, a lot. In fact, we fail so badly, that some people think that there are some of us who are created better than others. They feel that light skin is better than dark skin. They feel that people who have different names for God are to be left out. They feel that their ways of doing things are the best. They feel that it's okay to make others scared, to treat them like they are animals, and even to harm and kill them if they have to. I want to make it very clear to you that this is not how God feels, and it is why you were baptized, so that God can tell the truth that all people are miraculous creations, that all are loved equally, that all are indeed God's children.

God gives us this truth in baptism, so that we can share it, so that it can be proclaimed everywhere, so that all may know it, and so that all may live in it. When people say otherwise, and they will, it is wrong. In fact, it is so wrong, that God wants us to use our words and our actions to say it is wrong as boldly as we can. Some people do this by talking, others by marching, some by writing, and some even by being arrested, persecuted, and dying. Sometimes these people will make mistakes, but it is God's grace that has called them to this work, and it is that grace which will continue to use them to bring God's love. No matter what, there are not two sides, there is only one, the side of love, unity, justice, and peace. This is the truth, God's truth.

My dear son, may you always know the love of God, the love proclaimed in your baptism. May it fill you up and call you forward to a life proclaiming that truth, no matter what. God has done a great work in you, and God will continue to do great works in you. Surely, God has blessed us and this world with the work that is you.

Love, your Dad