Some make a theological argument that baptism is not a private matter, but it is a public means of grace whereby we bear witness to new life and its possibilities within a community. We proclaim new life through water. So, I write today to make public what I did in an impromptu moment on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

While spending the past few weeks reflecting, I have decided to share five important lessons that I would tell the 30-year-old me which are the same promises I will make to the future Alexis…

“Our bodies have a form of knowledge that is different from our cognitive brains. This knowledge is typically experienced as a felt sense of constriction or expansion, pain or ease, energy or numbness. Often this knowledge is stored in our bodies as wordless stories about what is safe and what is dangerous.” -Resmaa Menaken