Saint Michael Parish - Olympia, WA - January 9th 2010

     Saint Michael Parish is a beautiful Church. I mean this in every sense of the world. I have never been to a Church that held such a diversity of age, cultural backgrounds, and even decorations around the Chapel with a mixture of Christmas decorations still up, an angel on a tapestry and figures varying in size throughout the Church.

     I came with my girlfriend and we both came out the service feeling hope and uplifted. The service was about Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist and how baptism and being reborn through baptism is a call to action as the Father described it. Now for me this action goes directly against some of the doctrine of the papacy given that I think that Gay Marriage is moral right and that it's unethical that women cannot become priests. I mentioned after to my girlfriend that, "I would probably make a good Episcopal," for some of the reasons I just mentioned.

     Regardless of the many issues where the Catholic Church and I differ, the message still stands of the call to virtue and goodness and what baptism means still stands. It means remembrance, it means a swearing or covenant to live anew or renewing a promise already made. This is something any person can do, since all of us changing all the time and life provides opportunities to grow and change. For Judaism it's the covenant God made with the people, for Christianity Jesus is the New Covenant and for Islam God's covenant is revealed through Muhammad. Every one of the major religions be they Sikhs, Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Jews or others have that reminder and that call to be better and to live with virtue.

   Today in Church I got that reminder through Catholicism and remembering what baptism means...in time I hope I won't need a reminder...that it will always come naturally. But that time is not now and I very blessed to have been reminded that day in the beautiful Saint Michael Parish.