Baptism Reflection

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Lately
God has been quiet.

Actually that is not true
God is generally quiet

In fact
give then good book is called the Word of God
God says precious little
The occasional phrase or two
but little more

Especially in the New Testament
God hardly speaks a single word

So when God does speak
even for a few words
then perhaps it is time to listen
and listen well.

‘You are my beloved in whom I am well pleased’

And that is it.

Which is a bit of an anticlimax
given all the prequels Jesus has had
from prophets to baptisers

There has been a festival of grand words
of revolutions
of fire and and shinning fans
and when it comes
and the whole universe sucks in a breath
and holds it
are God clears the divine throat to speak

and what we hear is:
‘You are my beloved in whom I am pleased’

You would have thought a better response from God
might have been appropriate
after all the build up.

Yet here we are
hardly over birth
now at baptism
and God reminds us once more
not to get ahead of ourselves
this Jesus, this son
beloved
is one of us

and God is happy with that

Don’t move too quickly from birth to resurrection
this middle bit
this incarnation bit
of a son in whom God is pleased
is where the difference is going to be made

God has spoken
but won’t again
and this is what is said

It has to be important.