Sometimes the students get shy around me... so I have to lean into their downcast eyes. Not sure when I started doing this. Seems normal and natural for me like kissing a baby or patting the old hand of a saint. I want our baptism candidates to have a moment of intimacy with God and God's people.
What I ask them eye to eye is very simple, but profoundly moves me each time I hear the words in my voice. And I hope my questions invite them to ponder and wonder at how GOD is in their lives.
I ask, "Do you love Jesus? No, I mean to you truly love him?" Usually they pause for teen angst and/or mental comprehension. Then they might nod or say yes or smile or offer an 'of course.'
And then I ask, "Do you know of His great love for you?" Most often a casual shrug comes from the students as if this piece of information is too familiar or too normal. But it isn't. This is where the pulse of our faith radiates!
What those baptism candidates do not yet know... is that the following morning during our confirmation service as they kneel and after we have laid hands on them; I will look them each into the eye (AGAIN) and whisper to them (face to face, nose to nose and breath to breath), "Never forgot how much Jesus loves you!" Sometimes I repeat it... so that they really hear the significance of those words.
And every time I cry.
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