Lakeside Immersion

                                                              Baptism of Christ -- Artist unknown 

 We left Tuesday morning for one of what seems like a million lakes in central and northern Ontario which are unknown to the majority of us but beloved by those who have cottages and camps on their shores. When our children were young we went to this lake because of the tiny cabin and trailer owned by Ruth's father and stepmother on a beautiful lot with a canopy of pine and cedar trees. 

Because of the blended family we drifted from closer touch with the stepchildren after the parents and Ruth's close stepsister died. In recent months she has reconnected with a stepbrother and her half-sister (10 sibs in total!) who still frequent the lake. They encouraged us to go up for a few days with our son and his family, which we did this week.

It was a lovely experience, in large part because we could swim whenever we chose to cool down from the heatwave days. Our son and grandsons were enthusiastic swimmers and our freshwater ecologist daughter-in-law examined the lake bottom with mask and snorkel as though she were at her favourite theme park. 

We swam with them and on our own, which was heavenly and became more so with each additional plunge. It was as though we were reintroducing our bodies  to the medium of our childhoods and the womb, for that matter. In Lynn Sherr's book Swim: Why we Love the Water she begins a chapter with the observation that "we swam before we walked or breathed and then we forgot. Over and over again."  This is so simple, yet true. During my teen years I worked through various levels of Red Cross swim training and then qualified to be a lifeguard. Yet during the decades since I have sometimes gone several years without swimming, or at least swimming in a lake or river. 

I wrote not long ago about the spiritual quality of swimming and offered the reminder that one of our two Protestant sacraments is baptism. Originally baptism was by immersion, plunging beneath the water to then resurface into new life in Christ. Water is transformation in our faith.

Yesterday was our final day and after the rest of the gang departed we packed up and cleaned up and got thoroughly hot and sweaty. Our last act before hitting the dusty road was a reviving swim. I looked over to see a loon, perhaps 15 metres away, the closest we've ever been to what it also called the great northern diver, Then a turtle popped up nearby. This was the perfect conclusion to our time away, thanks be to God.