​​Last Sunday morning, I did something I have never done before. I walked into the chilly Cheakamus River and baptized Lukas, Emma and Pascale in the name of the Triune God.

It was one of the most special things I have ever done, and an Easter for the books.

To top it all off, just as we were about to begin the liturgy for Holy Baptism, I spotted something in the river. It was a seal, letting the current carry it downstream, popping its head out of the water to see what us strange creatures were up to on the riverbank.  

I love seals (and sea lions). They are all part of an order of aquatic mammals called pinnipeds. Pinniped comes from the Latin – ‘ped’ for foot, and ‘pinna’ for fin, or flipper, or even wing.

The Holy Spirit is often depicted as a bird – a dove, a goose, a plover, maybe even an eagle.

However, I would like to add seal to the list. Why not? This wing-footed marine mammal is so appropriate in so many ways: fierce, playful, curious, intelligent, mysterious, a liminal creature of both land and water. What better image for the Third Person of the Trinity?

This Easter, I pray that you may be absolutely delighted by where you witness God around you (and where you notice God witnessing you back).

Thanks be to God, alleluia!

CG+