Confirmation

Today was the culmination of nine months of study for the 17 young people who were confirmed this morning during Pentecost services. You may remember a blog post that I wrote some months ago about being asked to mentor one of these aspiring Confirmands. Elizabeth assured me that I could do this; I was not convinced, but after praying about it and discussing it further with Elizabeth, I decided to take a leap of faith and give it a try. Over the past few months, Lexi and I have gotten to know one another and talked about how each of us came to be  Episcopal and to St. Tim's, she knows my favorite color and I know hers, and we've discussed different ways to pray. She told me how the class tried various positions for prayer including laying face down on the floor and that everyone promised to keep their eyes closed so no one would feel self-conscious. I told her about Centering Prayer and she found that intriguing. We attended a worship service together at our local Jewish synagogue. I spent a Saturday in February with Lexi and the rest of the Confirmands and their mentors on retreat at Wesley Woods. Elizabeth was so right; I not only did this mentoring thing, I loved every minute of it. And no surprise...I feel like I gained so much from my time with Lexi and the other kids; gained more than I gave in fact.

Today I went to the altar and laid hands on Lexi with all her family as she was confirmed and received as an adult member of St. Timothy's. She did the hard work; I'm very proud of her. I couldn't help but write one last piece of advice in the card I gave her:

As you continue your journey through life, if you keep your eyes on the Light of Christ, you'll always find safe harbor.