Water: Wednesday

The risen life of Jesus Christ is so available to us afresh in every moment of our life – just there – as this endlessly unfolding potential. But living it out, claiming it, actually weaving it into the fabric of our life, requires us to go down into the waters of our baptism over and over and over again. 

– Br. Keith Nelson, SSJE


Way of Love: Daily Practice

Confess sins to God. Receive the grace of Jesus and begin again.


Share your experience in the comments below

7 Comments

  1. Deb Evans on March 11, 2020 at 2:02 am

    Having the grace and mercy of God that continues to let me come to him over and over again is words that could never express. Looking forward to be all that God will have me to be. Only he can cleanse us from our worldly ways and I pray and thank HIM in advance for doing that for a sinner as I. Thank you Lord for cleansing me and keeping me when I was not and could not. Thank you for having your angels to protect me from all hurt, harm, and danger. Amen!

  2. Bev Cone on March 11, 2020 at 6:41 am

    Water and Light! I am seeing everything outside in a new way since this class started.
    Seeing the water in the pond and watching the ducks and birds and turtles enjoy it is a wonderful religious experience when my eyes are opened.

  3. Jeanne DeFazio on March 11, 2020 at 8:11 am

    I loved hearing the brothers talk about water that they grew up around and how making the sign of the cross with Holy water put them beyond the veil. These insights really brighten my day and allows me to meet challenges and face negativity of the world with insight that holds my attention on God. Many thanks!

  4. James Rowland on March 11, 2020 at 9:01 am

    Br. Keith, a difficult message today but one of Hope: Confessing sins, receiving grace, beginning again “ (Day 11) It’s these difficult ingrained sins I’m thinking of, those such a part of me. Going down into the water implies coming back into the world but minus the sin now gone, now replaced by the presence of Christ and “the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit “. Maybe this is what God wants although I don’t understand it: a fallible human being who knows he is fallible and who will in all probability sin again.

  5. Jan Robitscher on March 11, 2020 at 12:00 pm

    Br. Keith–While I appreciate the sentiment of today’s meditation, I wish you had been clearer about “going down into the waters of our baptism over and over”. This implies that baptism is repeatable. We know and believe “in one baptism” as the creeds state. It is is through the experience of our prayers and daily life that we die and rise with Christ as we did at our baptism.

  6. Christopher Still on March 11, 2020 at 2:25 pm

    so the meditations on light and water so far have inspired me to reconnect to parts of my spiritual journey, which have been lost for a while. hearing that someone in a monastic order has been in spiritual darkness yet has been able to continue with the same love he has always had, and meeting God in this way again and again was just so joyous for me to hear, it lifted my guilt and shame, the feeling of being lost, renewing faith and the will to keep my journey going. Likewise hearing how we might have to go down to the waters of baptism again and again gives me hope, that even though I can be baptized once, I can still visit those vows and promises, and be washed over and over with the grace and love of God. in this way picking myself up and meeting God either in light or darkness, being washed in the continuous waters of baptism again and again, the act of admitting and taking responsibility for my sins and failures allows the continuous flowing gift of the grace and love of God to happen in my life, which can then be passed on to other by me who need it. Thank you SSJE for this wonderful series thus far .

  7. elizabeth wright on March 14, 2020 at 7:32 am

    I found this piece so moving the other day, it stays with me. Going down into the body-memory-waters of baptism – for me, as a very ill little infant – feels as if it’s happening all over again, that cycle of death, rebirth & transformation. Especially when the divine ‘waves & breakers’ sweep over me and flood all floors of my life along with its stuff – but also by way of these moments as you share your deeply thoughtful witness with each other and with us. Thank you. I don’t know why it still always surprises me when the waters of grace flow.

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