A man, probably in his late 60s, got baptized at my church today. It was a great service - good sermon, great hymns, some good testimonies on the wonder and excitement that is baptism - and it ended with a potluck full of casserole-y goodness.

I wonder what would inspire someone to get baptized so late in life. This man has been attending church in one fashion or another for a long time. He's been married to a member and active priesthood member. Why now? What changed?

I envy him, really. My baptism was so long ago (I was 10, I believe) that I hardly remember it. And I had no idea, really, what I was doing at the time. It was a meaningless gesture done because I wanted to be able to eat communion during church. I envy the chance to be able to make such a public and conscious choice to follow the divine. Not that I need the spectacle of it - but grand commitments like baptisms (and like weddings, ordinations, etc. . . ) tend to put things into a different perspective. And, sometimes, a perspective change can be an amazing thing.

I think people should wear signs around their necks stating the things that they have committed too. Think of how awesome that would be! We'd see people walking down the street wearing signs that say "I'm going to work out more" or "I'm going to call my friends once a weeks" or "I'm not going to play so much World of Warcraft" or "I'm going to recycle more" or "I'm going to pray for a different person every day." Think of how supportive we could be to our fellow man if we knew what was important to them and what they had committed to?


And don't worry - the irony of the fact that I started the year (and this round of blogging) off by talking about how I don't like new years resolutions and now all I seem to be talking about are resolutions in some shape or form - is not lost on me. But what can I say? I go where the creative wind takes me.

Until tomorrow my pretties.