The Tide of Hope

"Although we cannot see it...
the time of greatest hope is always'
low tide...
the very moment before the tide changes and begins to come back in."
                              (author unknown)


Please excuse the point of personal privilege.  I was baptized on this day.  It has always reminded me about water, my love for the ocean, and the eternal lesson that we are washed in the hope of God.  No matter how low the tide goes--and surely it does in life--never to fear in baptism which is the tide in the ebb and flow, the rising waters in God's Kingdom.  Does it help to know that we who live in this life are given a clock that is set by a Kingdom?  We are baptized with waters from one world to live with that love and grace--the rising tide of hope from God's Kingdom.

We thank you, Almighty God, for the gift of water.
Over it the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation.
Through it you led the children of Israel out of their bondage
in Egypt into the land of promise. In it your Son Jesus
received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy
Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us, through his death
and resurrection, from the bondage of sin into everlasting life.

We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism. In it we are

buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his

                                      resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.                                                                Book of Common Prayer