Gift of Mono? Gift of Baptism.

As most of you know, I have been super sick with mono, or as the Australians say: glandular fever, for the past couple of weeks. Although I am feeling much better now, the whole experience took a pretty big toll on me physically and mentally. I was feeling sick for about 3 weeks, but I really couldn’t do anything but sleep and watch Netflix for about a week and a half. I got really in my head for a bit. I was sad that I was in so much pain, I was angry at time zones for making it so hard to call home, I was embarrassed that my new community had to check up on me so much…I could keep going, but honestly, I was just really mad that I was in Australia and not at home where I know exactly how to navigate insurance and doctors offices, know the names of over the counter medicines (yeah, I didn’t realize those would be different here and trying to say acetaminophen when you barely have a voice and no one has heard the word before because they call it paracetamol is infuriating), and my parents can give me a hug while I’m sobbing to them instead of just watching it all over video chats that freeze every 5 minutes.

For a hot minute I even found myself questioning why I was here in Australia at all. Although the question did not stay in my head long when I was in that negative place, now that I am feeling better I find myself asking the same question. Why am I in Australia? Why am I a part of this (kind of crazy) program that has asked me to give up everything I know for a year and live all the way across the world? Why am I a part of this church? Why am I Christian? Okay, okay…I’m going to stop before I start spiraling. But seriously, for the past four years I have studied religion in an academic setting, so a lot of these questions are not new, but I am thinking about them in a vastly different way and it is stressful.

I was reminded of the answers to all of those questions at church on Friday. The Ark is celebrating baptismal birthdays this weekend with an affirmation of baptism at the beginning of the service, a sermon on John 3 when Jesus teaches Nicodemus about baptism, and birthday cakes at the end (I even decorated one! See photo to left). During the service on Friday, I couldn’t stop thinking of a tradition from my home church, St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Urbandale, Iowa. Our affirmation of baptism is included in the sending prayer each week:

“…to LIVE among God’s faithful people;

to HEAR the word of God and share in the Lord’s Supper;

to PROCLAIM the good news of God in Christ through word and deed;

to SERVE all people following the example of Jesus; and

to STRIVE for justice and peace in all the earth.” (ELW p. 236)       

Although I am not at home, saying these words out loud every week, I am reminded of them every time I think about why I’m here, or why I’m Lutheran, or why I’m Christian. These words and the promise that they include completely overwhelm me with the love and grace of God. Not only does this motivate me to try to just be a decent human being, but the promise of my baptism also reminds me that when I inevitably don’t measure up to these statements, I am still a child of God, called and loved, and God is still working in and through me. Remembering my purpose and call in this world does not always ease the anxieties I feel, but it sure does give me perspective and hope.

I’m only six weeks into my time here in Salisbury and there has already been quite a large speed bump. There will inevitably be more, but I am confident that when they do surface, I will be able to come back to the promises of my baptism, remember why I am on this journey in the first place, and be showered with the same love and grace I have felt so many times before.

Peace,

Katie.