{"id":107331,"date":"2022-06-25T09:59:52","date_gmt":"2022-06-25T13:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/?p=107331"},"modified":"2022-06-25T09:59:52","modified_gmt":"2022-06-25T13:59:52","slug":"baptism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/2022\/06\/baptism\/","title":{"rendered":"Baptism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Baptism<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As a sucker for symbolism,<\/span><\/p>\n

I was baptized in elementary school.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019d witnessed plenty of baptisms in\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

baptismal pools<\/span><\/p>\n

Ponds<\/span><\/p>\n

Metal wash tubs in store-front churches.<\/span><\/p>\n

None of them were like mine.<\/span><\/p>\n

My father \u2013 not a pastor \u2013 prayed for me and dipped me in our family bathtub.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Usually, robed men lift their hands to God\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Debate whether to say Jesus or Father Son Holy Ghost<\/span><\/p>\n

Debate whether to sprinkle, dip, dunk, or drown<\/span><\/p>\n

Some say everything.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some do everything.<\/span><\/p>\n

But nobody being baptized really cares what they say at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The men mumble on<\/span><\/p>\n

while you, draped in white,<\/span><\/p>\n

contemplate how your life will change after this moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

How after your body makes contact with this water<\/span><\/p>\n

you will do life right\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

this time.<\/span><\/p>\n

This time is new.<\/span><\/p>\n

And doesn\u2019t everyone deserve a moment such as this \u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

A moment when water floods the ears<\/span><\/p>\n

A moment of shocking cold that palpitates the heart<\/span><\/p>\n

A moment of weightless abandon to\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hope<\/span><\/p>\n

That you can finally be new<\/span><\/p>\n

And clean<\/span><\/p>\n

And right<\/span><\/p>\n

And holy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hope is a holy thing that must be watered.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Baptism   As a sucker for symbolism, I was baptized in elementary school.   I\u2019d witnessed plenty of baptisms in\u00a0 baptismal pools Ponds Metal wash tubs in store-front churches. None of them were like mine. My father \u2013 not a pastor \u2013 prayed for me…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4411,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-half-marathon-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4411"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107331"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107348,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107331\/revisions\/107348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}