Fifteen years ago, Kim and I made vows to love, comfort, honor, and keep one another, in sickness and in health. A year later, we vowed to see that our daughter Fiona would be brought up in Christian faith and life. These are important vows, sacred vows, but they are not the only important sacred vows that were made on those days.

After Kim and I made those vows, the whole congregation was asked, “Will all of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage?”

They answered, “We will”.

Likewise, when Fiona was baptized, the whole congregation was asked, “Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?”

Again, the answer was, “We will”.

Over the past fifteen years, we’ve had more than our share of sickness. I write this as Kim continues to recover from sinus surgery. Over the past fifteen years, there have been plenty of times when those who attended our wedding had the opportunity to act on their vows and support us in our marriage and in our raising of Fiona. To those who have kept their vow to help us keep our vows, “thank you”.

Kim and I have likewise made similar vows to others and done what we can to support them. Yet, to me, it is about more than just the vows that we make, in person, at a baptism or wedding. We are part of the very body of Christ. By making those vows, we join with the vows made at all weddings and baptisms and we have spent time honoring those vows by upholding friends torn by grief or addiction, even though we were at their weddings or baptisms, not in person, but as part of the body of Christ.

I am writing this as part of a broader context. Besides being members of the body of Christ, I am also a member of an online community of writers, the participants in #DigiWriMo. Yesterday I started a discussion with Kyle Matthew Oliver about Digital Cathedrals. How is the sacred manifest online? How does it relate to what we are doing in #DigiWrimo? Kevin Hodgson jumped in with a great tweet:

“That idea of the journey to discover who we are through writing is key. We help each other along the way.”

For many, the language of liturgy, church, and religion may be a barrier, so I’ll take Kevin’s tweet, and rework it to the Liturgy of #DigiWriMo, something I hope will be accessible to people no matter what their faith structure.

“Will all of you participating in #DigiWriMo do all in your power to help other participants discover who they are through their digital writing?”

“We Will.”