Rituals and Baptism

"And a sad contradiction that would be..."
      p. 248 The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony by Calasso

Rituals. The topic that seems like something only foreign countries of "uneducated indigenous" people do anymore. Rituals in today's society has turned more into a habit, or a tradition that's lost its meaning. As I began to think of any "rituals" I might follow, they all seemed basic, habitual almost. My morning routine for example, it is pretty much always the same. I get up, maybe reset my alarm a couple of times, go to the bathroom, take a shower, try to pray while I'm in the shower since I failed to the night before, get out, brush my hair, wash my face, put lotion on my legs, get dressed, put on deodorant, brush my hair with my other brush (yes I do indeed have two brushes), eat some breakfast (usually cereal), finish getting dressed if I haven't yet, put on my jewelry, put on some body spray, make a lunch (if need to)/put backpack together, brush my teeth, leave. Guarantee this changes a little bit day to day, but for the most part, that is my morning habit.
   Then I was thinking about holidays and the traditions that come with those. I remember growing up and one of the questions that I swear was asked by every teacher every year was, "What family traditions do you have that you use to celebrate.....?" Usually Easter, Christmas, or Thanksgiving. I feel even these traditions become more habit and begin to loose their meanings over time. It is not until those traditions are broken or modified that we see how much they meant in our lives.
     After some even more pondering, I began to think about the few things I do that I would consider more ritual - mainly all related to my relationship with the Lord God. In reference to what was covered in class, communion, I grew up taking communion the first Sunday of the month and on Maundy Thursday, or the Last Supper before the Crucifixion. And going to church every Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving Eve, and Bible study on Wednesdays. Out of all of these the only ones that I continue are going to church most Sundays (when I can), the Christmas Eve service because I'm actually home for that, and a bible study here or there, but I have not really plugged into one since I left home. (Although I think I finally found one I like! YAY!) As for the services on Maundy Thursday and Thanksgiving Eve, I am no longer home for these and am usually on the road. I haven't even had communion in a quite a few months!
     I'm sure to most of you reading, you might not understand why most of these things are important or where I'm getting at with all of this....let me simplify before I get rambling too much. My point was that for a while all of these things were simply habit to me. Or I went because I had to. It was not until I was older that I began to see the value in each and every one of those things and began to miss them when I could no longer have them as readily or when it took more effort on my part to receive them. To me rituals are things that mean something. That is why they are done. They have a purpose. They are not simply, "something we do", as so put in class today. I do lots of things that I would not consider a ritual - such as discussed above.
     Baptism was also brought up in class today, which got me thinking of the many different out looks on that one subject by the different denominations in Christianity. The majority of Catholics and Lutherans and I believe Presbyterian believe baptism is part of the means necessary to become one with Christ or the church - hence why they baptize infants. Since I do not know my individual denomination practices and reasons as well as I would like, I will not be specific to any that I am uncertain on. I do know however that some believe that you cannot get into heaven unless you are baptized, and that is part of the reason why infants are baptized, to cover the bases in case something happens. Others (such as I) would argue that it is not necessary to get into heaven, but more of an outward, public confession of one's faith. This means that you cannot be baptized until you are old enough to begin to understand that the Lord is the trinity, the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and that the only way to heaven is through him, Jesus Christ, the Son. And therefore if you truly believe this, there is no reason why one should not be baptized, for it is not only a public confession, but a bond between you and God saying that you truly do believe and give yourself to Him, therefore washing away the old, and bringing in the new. I have seen people  at a young age all the way to adults in their 40's become baptized. Therefore, I also believe baptism does not have an age limit, it is different for every person.
   Below are some verses on baptism that I found that tell more of this "ritual".

"I baptize you with water for repentance."
        ~Matthew 3:11a

"And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."
          ~Mark 1:4

The Greek translation for “baptize” is “baptizō” which has three meanings:
         1) to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk)
         2) to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one's self, bathe
         3) to overwhelm


The Greek translation for “baptism” is “baptisma” which means:
          1) immersion, submersion
               a) of calamities and afflictions with which one is quite overwhelmed
               b) of John's baptism, that purification rite by which men on confessing their sins were bound to spiritual reformation, obtained the pardon of their past sins and became qualified for the benefits of the Messiah's kingdom soon to be set up. This was valid Christian baptism, as this was the only baptism the apostles received and it is not recorded anywhere that they were ever rebaptised after Pentecost.
              c) of Christian baptism; a rite of immersion in water as commanded by Christ, by which one after confessing his sins and professing his faith in Christ, having been born again by the Holy Spirit unto a new life, identifies publicly with the fellowship of Christ and the church.



(The above translations were found by using an online concordance -Strong's Concordance -that uses the King James Version.)