A true story, and a reflection ahead of this Sunday’s commemoration of the Baptism of Jesus
In Galilee, a root gripped my foot,
the tree of life inverted, submerged;
the river filled my lungs with fire,
a strange baptism, the Spirit of God
hovering helpless above the chaos:
“My child, my child,” breathing
underwater as it was in the beginning,
dredging sludge from the riverbed
into the rarefied air.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you. – Isaiah 43:2
over the water 