{"id":68192,"date":"2025-09-30T13:39:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T18:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=68192"},"modified":"2025-10-03T12:13:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T17:13:15","slug":"rituals-of-belonging-liturgical-pathways-for-aging-health-and-spirituality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/30\/rituals-of-belonging-liturgical-pathways-for-aging-health-and-spirituality\/","title":{"rendered":"Rituals of Belonging : Liturgical Pathways for Aging, Health, and Spirituality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Jill Crainshaw, September 29, 2025<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Do not cast me away in the time of old age; 
   forsake me not when my strength fails. Psalm 71:17-18<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such as are planted in the house of the Lord 
   shall flourish in the courts of our God.
  They shall still bear fruit in old age; 
   they shall be vigorous and in full leaf;
  That they may show that the Lord is true; 
   he is my rock,
      and there is no unrighteousness in him. Psalm 92:14-15<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Grandma longed to be baptized by immersion. She wanted me to perform the ritual on a Sunday morning in her church. \u201cJust like Jesus and John the Baptist,\u201d she said. She was 71. I was 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Thursday before her baptism, she had her hair \u201cfixed,\u201d just like she had for every week for at least my 29 years of life. She arrived at the church, hair sprayed into submission, ready to plunge into the waters of God\u2019s love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And she did it. I did too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was messy. As I lowered her into baptismal pool, she trembled and breathed in. Her hair gave in to the water. So did her body and spirit. And as I spoke the promises of baptism, she splashed up out of the pool, kicking and laughing and crying. We both cried, as John the Baptist and Jesus looked upon us from the baptismal painting on the wall above the pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some family members expressed uncertainty about my grandma\u2019s immersion baptism. They worried about her age. They wondered whether I was strong enough to lower her down and lift her up. They were even concerned about her post-baptism hair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps these concerns present themselves with many baptisms. Unique to my grandmother\u2019s baptism was her age. She was the oldest church member ever to be immersed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The memory lingers for me all these years later. The memory lingered for my grandmother too. The ritual, for her, was less about any redemptive qualities associated with baptism and more about experiencing what Jesus had experienced. After that Sunday, she was still Grandma\u2014and she had a new story to share of what it meant for her at age 72 to \u201cbe like Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rituals Remember the Body and Bodies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t share this memory to spark debates about baptism. This memory returned to me this summer while I prepared to teach a ministry course on aging, spirituality, and health. Some questions emerged from this memory to center the course:<\/p>\n\n\n\n