So Brave

What are humans that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. – Psalm 8:4-5 (NRSV)

Over the winter, not late but already dusk, I took my six-year-old grandson to the river near our house. He does not love the dark, but he does love to throw rocks into the water, so he chose the joy of the activity over the fear of the night.

As he flung one after another, he congratulated himself. “Good one!” he said. “You’re so brave!” Finally, the stars started to blink to life, our sign that it really was truly dark, and we held hands on the way back to our car.

Several months later, I had the honor of baptizing a lively three-year-old. We blessed the water together, then I put three small handfuls of water on his head.

“In the name of the Father,” I said. “Oh!” he reacted.

“And the Son,” I said. “It’s wet!” he said.

 
“And the Holy Spirit,” I said. “So brave!” he declared, before holding my hand down the aisle and doling out high fives all around.  

We give up saying it aloud, don’t we grownups?

But listen. It really does help. Say it next time you are trying to throw joy into the dark, or are surprised by the unexpected. Say it out right now and see how it changes whatever you are doing next.

After all, you are practically almost an angel. You just need to be reminded, sometimes by your own sweet, small voice. And then, holding hands, you are ready to head back out into the world.  

Prayer
I am brave. So brave. So very very very brave. Amen.

About the Author
Rev. Jennifer Garrison (formerly Brownell) is a writer, spiritual director and pastor living in the Pacific Northwest. Her published work most recently appeared in the book The Words of Her Mouth: Psalms for the Struggle, available from The Pilgrim Press.