Month seven: Monarch Butterflies

A recap of last week... Madeus and I spent five days alone as Michael traveled to his grandmother's funeral in Florida. He came back, I graded 150 papers and defended my prospectus. We went on our first official date (post Mad) to a Gala for his upcoming graduation which my mom was kind enough to fly in early for. Michael's mother, partner, and uncle flew in, and then my father and sister flew in. We attended several graduation events as well as the ceremony itself, celebrated Mother's Day and Madeus was baptized on Sunday. Oh - and we thought it would also be a good time to get new carpet. Needless to say, everyone is exhausted.

The Baptism
It started off rocky. We planned the baptism late. While usually service is at 11, because of graduation, Duke changed their service to 5 pm which made it so Michael's mom would literally just miss it. As she was leaving, her flight was delayed so we thought maybe it was going to all work out. In the end, they decided they should go to the airport and we were all pretty emotional. Later, we found out there flight was canceled and they were in the Raleigh airport while Madeus was being baptized, uggh.

With five minutes to spare we left the house, in what, from a Colorado-bred perspective, was a tropical storm. By the time we got to Duke Chapel my carefully planned dress and hair were perfectly drenched. We rushed in realizing the church was half empty and the usual beautiful 40 piece choir was on summer recess. Duke Chapel is usually standing room only and the choir surrounds you during the mass making it an extra beautiful experience, so of course I was disappointed. Plus the pastor was a visiting preacher, albeit, a relatively famous preacher from Harvard Chapel, Reverend Peter J. Gomes...

But then he started speaking directly to Madeus. The other two babies being baptized had been taken out so Madeus became the representative for the sermon. Connecting his sermon on Pentecost with the renewal of baptism, the transition of graduation, the experiment of having this late day service, and the rain, he transformed and reminded the congregation of our lack of control to make things perfect. He spoke to Madeus and his new responsibility to use whatever language he chooses to influence the world - not necessarily through power, in a traditional sense, but the influence to carry on where where other members of the community are weak, to literally bring new life to the world infected with power. While our hearts were still heavy with the absence of Mike's family, the sermon reminded me of what Marcy's partner Dorse said before we left. We were talking about spirituality and while he doesn't consider himself a religious man he thinks of the human experience metaphorically through the life of the Monarch butterflies working their way down to Mexico, breeding and dying on the way and rejoining in the South before starting a new journey again, achieving eternal life through the genetic passage of new birth.

The chapel, the family, the sermon, the water and hands over Madeus, transformed our moods and when we left the rain had ceased and Madeus was ready for his close up. It was the culmination of an intense time that included all of the elements of the cycle, from the death of Michael's grandmother (Big Mom), the transitions in our education, the gathering of family, the celebration of Mothers, and finally to the ceremony of Madeus' birth. While it was a lot to do together, it helped ground and remind me of what living is about.