SAMPLE Christening/Naming Ceremony

Welcome

Eric and Lori have brought us together today to welcome and celebrate the new life of Lucas Henri d'Argent Deux Fontaines and to bless his life’s journey in connection with God. It is important to these new parents that a special ceremony be held to express their commitment, their joy and their wonder for this their child, a unique expression of the Divine Beloved.

Each child comes into this world with the message that we must never be discouraged with humanity for with every birth comes the promise of infinite possibilities. Every soul brings fresh energy into this world and with it, greater fulfillment and purpose to the lives that surround it. And each child is a testimony to the conviction that we believe life is inherently good and worthwhile, may this be a moment in time where each one of us of the many blessings we share.

There is also an ancient tradition called ‘Naming’, much older, indeed than Christening as we know it. The purpose which is exactly what these loving parents want, is to be in caring and deep closeness with this circle of family and friends and to create a heightened awareness of the community to which Lucas will always belong. Nothing is as powerful as this kind of community and it is our wish and prayer that this love and power will support, inspire, honor grace all the days of his life.

Story

I would like to share with you a tender story, a ritual from an East African Tribe that illustrates the power intimacy in one’s community. The birth date of a child is not counted form the day of it’s physical birth not the event of conception, but from the very first thought in the mother’s mind.

And so it continues…

Four Directions

To this beginning let us invoke the presence of God as living in, as, for and through Lucas by honoring the four directions. We use this ritual to symbolized the tribal roots of humanity’s fundamental need to belong, not only to community, and all of life, but to something greater that calls their own evolution forward.

I will ask Lori to light the candle that represents the direction of the East and the element of Air associated with new beginnings of dawn and hope. Let us know for Lucas that Spirit’s Intelligence expresses through his bringing great clarity, fulfilling communication and ultimate peace throughout his days.

And so it goes for the other 3 Directions

Words for God Parents

As Lucas is already fully and completely himself your job is not to form him into something, but rather support him in being the best that is already inherent within. As chosen God Parents to guide the spiritual life of Lucas will you now offer up your personal commitment.

Words for Parents

Lori and Eric, now it is your heart that speaks so that your child may hear the unconditionally loving contract you made with him when first he became an idea in the Mind of God and your soul said—yes, this is the child I want…

Reading: Kahlil Gibran on Children

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, speak to us of children and he said: "Your children are not our children. They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for Itself. They come through you but not from you. And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love and not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts.

And so it continues…

Lucas’s Response “As I Grow”

Please understand that I am growing up and changing very fast. It must be difficult to keep pace with me, but please try.

Please reward me for telling the truth. Then I am not frightened into lying.

And so it continues…

May I ask BOTH Parents and GodParents to form a Sacred Circle around Lucas please.

Anointing Ritual

Water has always been seen as a metaphor for Spirit. It is no accident that we use it in this celebration. There is no special power in the water but rather in its innate qualities, fluidity, etc. and its central role in life, which gives it its symbolic power. As we arose from the sea, we still carry some of it with us in our fluids that maintain our physical being. Without it we would soon cease to be.

So it is with Spirit. We arise from Spirit, we are immersed in it our whole lives but should we cease to renew it, much like drinking water, we will soon expire. It is our job as Lucas’s spiritual community to ensure he has ample opportunity to drink spiritual water.

Nadene takes drops of water from the bowl and anoints to honor the Holy Presence of God found within the seven power centres in the human body known as ‘chakras’… Remembering the claim from the Bible that states;
“In your flesh shall you know me”.

Blessing and Presentation

Lucas –
In the name of God the Creator, the source of all life; In the name of God the Manifested Son, the spiritual nature of all creation; and in the name of Spirit, the continued presence of God in Life:

May you reach your full potential and celebrate the fullness of your life all of your days.

We bless and honor your presence amongst us and we wait with cheerful expectancy, the multitude of gifts you have come here to bestow upon the world. May your light forever shine. May your awareness of God as Source, bless you and keep you all the days of your life.

May I present the so named, Lucas Henri d’Argent Deux Fontaines

And So It Is.