British comedian and actor Russell Brand has described his baptism in the River Thames as a “profound experience”.The 48-year-old previously said the baptism was an “opportunity to leave the past behind and be reborn in Christ’s name”.It comes months after Brand was accused of rape and sexual assault by several women during the height of his fame between 2006 and 2013 – which he has strongly denied.
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00:00 Yesterday I got baptised and it was an incredible profound experience and many of you will have had
00:05 your own experiences of baptism and will therefore know what I'm talking about. Many aspects of it
00:10 were very intimate and personal. The truth is this, as a person that has in the past taken many many
00:17 substances and always been disappointed with their inability to deliver the kind of tranquility and
00:22 peace and even transcendence I always felt I've been looking for, something occurred in the process
00:28 of baptism that was incredible, overwhelming, literally overwhelming because I was obviously
00:34 underwater and it was the River Thames at some points so I felt change, transitioned. Now of
00:42 course even though it's been less than 24 hours in the interim period I've already felt like sort of
00:47 irritation. I've got three children, I've got a job, I've got challenges, I still live in the world
00:51 but I feel as if some new resource within me has switched on. So many of your comments have been
00:57 so beautiful and encouraging and I really appreciate it and also even the cynicism I understand because
01:02 some people will just see me as a celebrity. I don't see me as a celebrity because I was me when
01:07 I was a little boy, I was me when I was a junkie, I was me when I was poor, I've been me in all of
01:11 the different phases but I recognise that anything in this terrain in the sort of social media world
01:16 could be exploited and utilised. For me I've made the decision and I know what the decision is.
01:24 I've made it for myself and I pray that it will be relevant to my family in particular, my children,
01:29 my wife's Catholic, you know she's already made her own choices in this life including this one.
01:34 This is new for me, I'm learning and I will make mistakes but this is my path now and I already
01:41 feel incredibly blessed, relieved, nourished, held. It's been an incredible experience. I wish I could
01:50 tell you exactly about it because there were amazing individuals involved, there were incredible
01:54 and bizarre incidents that took place that felt serendipitous and laden. You know I do a show
02:00 every day, I'll be talking about this stuff in the show because it's part of my mission and it's part
02:04 of my ministry and it's part of my service. This is new to me and it's a joy to me and I know that
02:12 I'm not expected to be perfect and I know that that's not something I'll be able to deliver.
02:18 Those of you that have embraced me, I'm so grateful. I can't tell you how happy I feel
02:23 and how relieved I feel but as you know, if you know, my resources are coming from somewhere else
02:29 and someone else now. Thank you so much for your support. Let's keep doing this together or
02:35 certainly I'm just going to do what I'm doing. I love you so much. I'm so grateful to be surrendered
02:41 in Christ. See you all soon. I'm doing the show a little later, come watch that if you want to.
02:45 on it.
02:46 [BLANK_AUDIO]