Is it a glitch in technology or does God have something else on mind?  In either case, I can’t get an internet connection on the laptop this morning.  It’s really tedious to write a blog on an iPad but it’s possible to cut and paste.  So what I had intended to write about feeling enthusiastic and hopeful about the future of the church will have to await resolution of my internet connectivity issues.

Maybe God does have other intentions!  Just yesterday my friend Susan Stabile posted something on her blog, Creo en Dios [link] I really liked and actually thought I would want to share.  Greater powers than me seem to have the same idea.  Here is what Susan shared from something that had been posted in a church bulletin:

I accept the Sign of the Cross

…on my forehead – to learn to follow Jesus;

…on my ears – that I may hear the voice of God;

…on my eyes – that I may see the glory of God;

…on my lips – that I may respond to the word of God;

…on my heart – that Christ may dwell there by faith;

…on my shoulders – that I may bear the gentle yoke of Christ;

…on my hands – that Christ may be known in my work;

…on my feet – that I may walk in the way of Christ.

I Make the Sign of the Cross, the promise of eternal life to all who are faithful to Christ.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Although the Pelagian overtones of “the promise…to all who are faithful to Christ” makes me squirm a little, this is a marvelous reminder of our Baptism.  All the more reason we should reclaim the rich symbolism of Holy Water at the entrance to our churches.

And, about those “Pelagian overtones”… our faithfulness does nothing to earn Christ’s promise.  All is gift and all is given!  All God asks is our response in gratitude and love to the utter gift extended to us in Christ.  This is the grace into which we have been baptized.  Thanks be to God!