Carrie Underwood, the season four winner of American Idol (2005), grew up singing in her local church choir at First Free Will Baptist Church. In addition to “Something in the Water,” she is also known for other hits with Christian themes including “Jesus, Take the Wheel.”[2] When talking about the background to the song “Something in the Water,” Underwood described her own baptismal experience,
I was dunked in our tiny little church in Checotah, Oklahoma. It was my idea, I wanted to do that…I just remember being so proud that day.[3]
Though Carrie Underwood comes from a Baptist background, which has differing views on Baptism than the Catholic Church, this song with proper instruction can still help teach Catholics about what the sacrament of Baptism means and signifies.
The song begins with a “preacher man” who explains to the main character of the song that he has “been where [they]’ve been before.” He explains that he lived a life without faith in God and that he was effectively “wasting a life that the Good Lord gave [him].” But then someone explained to him what he is now telling the main character, and that his eyes were “opened” when he was told the “truth.” He was then told, “Just a little faith, it’ll all get better.”
The main character then proceeds to follow the preacher man “down to the river,” referring to the reception of the gift of Baptism, and then afterwards is able to exclaim, “now I’m changed and now I’m stronger. There must've been something in the water.” Whether the authors of this song recognize it or not, they are communicating a very powerful truth about the sacrament of Baptism that is consistent with the words of Scripture and the teachings of the Church. The Church teaches that Baptism is not only a symbol that someone receives as a testament to their newly professed faith, but that Baptism rightly causes, effects, and communicates God’s grace to the recipient in and through the immersion or pouring of water. In a word: Baptism actually does change a person. The sacraments “are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1131). The washing with water that occurs in Baptism actually causes a washing of the person’s soul. Scripture attests to this fact. St. Paul writes, alluding to Baptism,
But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:11).
He saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).
As St. Peter explains, “Baptism… now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21). The author of Hebrews also writes, “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22). Each of these Scripture verses refer to a washing or sprinkling that has a saving and purifying effect on the recipient in and through the Holy Spirit and/or the saving work of Jesus Christ. These are some of the effects of Baptism. The Catechism explains,
…Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word” (CCC, 1213).
As the song continues, the person, after receiving the sacrament of Baptism, said, “I went on my way and didn’t think about it for a couple of days.” Though they were baptized, the impact that it had on their lives was not fully evident or manifest to them yet. The main character states, “Then it hit me like lightning late one night,” possibly alluding to the conversion of St. Paul who had a light from heaven flash about him, and they experienced something profound (cf. Acts 9:3). They go on to describe their experience,
Saying, ‘God, if You're there come and rescue me.’ Felt love pouring down from above. Got washed in the water, washed in the blood, and now I'm changed. And now I'm stronger. There must be something in the water.
The authors of this song, whether they intended to or not, have made a distinction about the effects of Baptism that occur ex opere operato and ex opere operantis.
Ex opere operato – which literally means “from the work worked” – refers to the graces of the sacrament which are confered on the recipient, regardless of the righteousness of the minister or the recipient, at the moment of the reception of the sacrament by the simple fact that the sacrament was completed. Baptism does actually make a change in a person simply by the the act being done. As the Catechism explains,
Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify. They are efficacious because in them Christ himself is at work: it is he who baptizes, he who acts in his sacraments in order to communicate the grace that each sacrament signifies…This is the meaning of the Church's affirmation that the sacraments act ex opere operato (literally: "by the very fact of the action's being performed"), i.e., by virtue of the saving work of Christ, accomplished once for all. It follows that "the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of God." From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it… (CCC, 1127, 1128).
This ex opere operato effect is made clear in the song by the continual references to the “water” by which the person was first changed when they went with the preacher man “down to the river.” The change that occurred, occurred in and through the washing of water. Yet this song makes a distinction between the effects of Baptism that were given by virtue of the sacrament and the effects that occurred a couple of days later through an act of faith that flowed from the sacrament of Baptism. The fact that the receiver of Baptism did not think about the event for “a couple of days” is evidence that they, perhaps, did not have a perfect or mature faith, but they did have enough faith that could later develop. The Catechism explains, “Baptism is the sacrament of faith... The faith required for Baptism is not a perfect and mature faith, but a beginning that is called to develop” (1253).
As the song continues, the faith of the receiver of Baptism did indeed develop. They called out to God in faith, which allowed them to have the proper disposition to more fully experience the fruit of Baptism in their lives. Ex opere operantis – which literally means “from the work of the worker” – refers to graces that are received from the disposition of the receiver of the sacrament. The Catechism explains, “the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them” (CCC, 1128). Again it states, “They [the sacraments] bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions” (CCC, 1131). St. Thomas Aquinas explains,
Adults, who approach Baptism in their own faith, are not equally disposed to Baptism; for some approach thereto with greater, some with less, devotion. And therefore some receive a greater, some a smaller share of the grace of newness; just as from the same fire, he receives more heat who approaches nearest to it, although the fire, as far as it is concerned, sends forth its heat equally to all.[4]
The receiver of Baptism receives the gift of Holy Spirit. “This sacrament is also called ‘the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit,’ for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit…” (CCC, 1215). Though someone can receive the Holy Spirit in and through this sacrament, it is possible that the sacrament will not produce the effects or fruits of the Spirit until one has the proper disposition. St. Thomas explains,
In like manner, when a man is baptized, he receives the character, which is like a form: and he receives in consequence its proper effect, which is grace whereby all his sins are remitted. But this effect is sometimes hindered by insincerity.[5]
Once the obstacle of insincerity is removed, “Baptism forthwith produces its effect.”[6] St. Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22-23), and Carrie Underwood sings about the effects that flowed from this new disposition of faith and connects them to the water of Baptism,
Felt love pouring down from above…And now I'm singing along to amazing grace. Can't nobody wipe this smile off my face. Got joy in my heart, angels on my side. Thank God almighty, I saw the light. Gonna look ahead, no turning back. Live every day, give it all that I have. Trust in someone bigger than me. Ever since the day that I believed I am changed. And now I'm stronger. There must be something in the water.
Pope Francis, himself, in his Easter Vigil homily in April of 2014, talked about these two distinct moments that can happen at Baptism and post-Baptism. He refers to Baptism as a “Galilee” that starts our Christian journey, referring to infant baptism for most Catholics, that is the source of our faith, but he also refers to a post-baptismal “existential Galilee” in which we have an experience of an encounter with Jesus Christ. Both the “Galilee” of Baptism and the “existential Galilee” occur in this song.
For each of us, too, there is a “Galilee” at the origin of our journey with Jesus. “To go to Galilee” means something beautiful, it means rediscovering our baptism as a living fountainhead, drawing new energy from the source of our faith and our Christian experience. To return to Galilee means above all to return to that blazing light with which God’s grace touched me at the start of the journey. From that flame I can light a fire for today and every day, and bring heat and light to my brothers and sisters. That flame ignites a humble joy, a joy which sorrow and distress cannot dismay, a good, gentle joy. In the life of every Christian, after baptism there is also a more existential “Galilee”: the experience of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ who called me to follow him and to share in his mission. In this sense, returning to Galilee means treasuring in my heart the living memory of that call, when Jesus passed my way, gazed at me with mercy and asked me to follow him. It means reviving the memory of that moment when his eyes met mine, the moment when he made me realize that he loved me.[7]
The song refers to the recipient as being “washed in the water, washed in the blood.” This reference to the blood is an important contribution. The 144,000 in heaven are described as those who have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14). This reference to blood is meant to draw a connection of Baptism to the death of Jesus Christ. St. Paul makes this same connection between Baptism and the death of Jesus,
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3-4).
He writes again, “and you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12). St. John explains the importance of this close connection of the water and the blood, which is an allusion to the link between the water of Baptism and the blood of the Cross,
This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth. There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree. (1 John 5:6-8)
The Catechism makes this connection,
to baptize (Greek baptizein) means to "plunge" or "immerse"; the "plunge" into the water [which] symbolizes the catechumen's burial into Christ's death, from which he rises up by resurrection with him, as "a new creature.” (CCC, 1214).
In catechesis, it is extremely important to make this connection that the power of the sacrament of Baptism is derived from faith in the saving act of Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross. St. Thomas Aquinas notes,
Christ dwells in us "by faith" (Ephesians 3:17). Consequently, by faith Christ's power is united to us. Now the power of blotting out sin belongs in a special way to His Passion. And therefore men are delivered from sin especially by faith in His Passion, according to Romans 3:25: "Whom God hath proposed to be a propitiation through faith in His Blood." Therefore the power of the sacraments which is ordained unto the remission of sins is derived principally from faith in Christ's Passion.[8]
The song ends in a joyful celebration as an angelic Gospel sounding choir adds lyrics from “Amazing Grace,” which reminds one, “‘Rejoice with me… there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:9-10).
A possible problem could stem from a different interpretation of the song that could attempt to overemphasize adult baptism to the neglect or downplaying of infant baptism, but a strict intrepretation of the lyrics do not make this connection. If anything, the song could actually help reinforce infant baptism by showing that something does indeed occur “in the water,” which then makes it possible for the faith at Baptism to come to maturation and produce fruits if one continues to develop their disposition of faith as exemplified by the song. Another possible problematic interpretation could be similar to the song “Amazing Grace,” which is referenced in the song. The lyric in Amazing Grace, “How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed” could be intepreted to mean that grace did not appear until the person believed, rather than grace appearing at the moment of Baptism. This interpretation could also be spread to the line in this particular song “Ever since the day that I believed I am changed.” These interpretations can be avoided, though, if we do not isolate these experiences from the gift of Baptism. If we intrepret them to refer to the subjective experiences of the recipients that changed due to a new disposition of faith that enabled the recipients to see the grace they already received at Baptism in a new way which also produced the fruits of Baptism. The music video for the song is not particularly helpful and actually may be a distraction from the deep meanings that can be drawn from the lyrics. The celebrity of Carrie Underwood could potentially take away from the song, especially because high-profiled artists have more of a potential to be caught in scandal due to the public nature of their career.
A great benefit in using this song is that it is already well-known in many circles and so it has the ability to appeal to many different kinds of people, including people of no faith. Carrie Underwood explains, “I’ve had tons of people over the years… be like, ‘You know, I’m not really like into the whole organized-religion thing.’ But they like the [song].”[9] Because it is still played on the radio, it can help bring to mind the gift of Baptism to people who may hear it.
I know for me, the joyful crescendo of the song and the uplifting lyrics, make me thankful for the gift of my Baptism, and the song helps me, in the words of Pope Francis, return to my “Galilee.”
[1] “Something
in the Water,” in Wikipedia: The Free
Encyclopedia; (Wikimedia Foundation Inc., updated 13 February 2017), encyclopedia-online,
accessed 13 February 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Something_in_the_Water_(Carrie_Underwood_song
[2] “Carrie
Underwood,” in Wikipedia: The Free
Encyclopedia; (Wikimedia Foundation Inc.,. updated 13 February 2017),
encyclopedia-online, accessed 13 February 2017 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_Underwood
[3] Tom
Roland, “Underwood’s ‘Something In The Water’ Finds Hope In Change,” October
16, 2014. Billboard Country Update, accessed
13 February 2017, http://www.billboard.com/files/biz/pdf/2013/BCU_mw_1016.pdf
[4] St.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica,
III, q.69, a.8. New Advent, accessed 13 February 2017 http://www.newadvent.org/summa/4069.htm
[5] ST, III, q.69, a.10.
[6] ibid.
[7] Pope
Francis. Easter Vigil Homily. 19 April 2014, Vatican Website, accessed 13
February 2017, https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20140419_omelia-veglia-pasquale.html
[8] ST, III, q.62, a.5. New Advent, accessed
13 February 2017, http://www.newadvent.org/summa/4062.htm
[9] Roland, “Underwood’s ‘Something In The Water.’”
[9] Roland, “Underwood’s ‘Something In The Water.’”
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