June 27 – “Another flood”

Chris' Mom seems to be getting weaker as the days go by.  She now allows them to push her around the house in a wheel chair.  Chris' sister is due to arrive tomorrow or the next day.  Other family members are calling regularly to check on her.  I don't think Chris will be coming home anytime soon.  She's probably there for the duration.  I'll have to figure out a time to go down there for a visit.   Today we got to do another baptism.  That's always a fun time.  We leave the church and walk down to the beach.  Today we had a pretty big crowd accompany us, along with a good crowd already out in the sun.  Beautiful hot day.  Very warm water.  Lots of seaweed.  The girl just graduated from high school and is headed for college.  She is an incredible example of someone doing her best to live for Christ even in the little things.  She is fun to be around, too.  Except when she has a nearly full glass of iced tea in front of her.   I went out to eat at the notorious Healthy Chinese Buffet with her and her family and another girl who considers herself family and a guy who really wishes he could be family.  Again, I don't mind going there on a Sunday because they serve fried shrimp.  All you can eat.  And a boatload of ketchup.  So I was fine.  Well-fed.  Relaxing in our chairs after lunch and talking.  And then it happened.   Kelly's hand (That's right.  Her name is Kelly.  Spelled wrong.  She is the one who was baptized.) shot out from nowhere in the direction of her nearly full glass of tea.  Instead of the gentle grasp one might expect from a bright young teenager out for lunch after church with her mother, boyfriend, and the pastor … instead of a simple fingers separating from thumb and slowly closing around glass with sufficient force to generate enough support to lift the glass from the table … instead of virtually any scenario that you might expect, her hand smashed violently into the glass, causing it to wobble, to lean precariously, then to crash to the table, sending torrents of liquid libation flowing across the table directly toward the poor, unsuspecting, very holy, totally innocent pastor seated across from her.    Instincts leapt into motion, however, as he almost involuntarily jerked backwards in his chair.  Instead of pushing back away from the table as one might expect under ordinary conditions, though, the chair refused to budge, standing its ground on the restaurant carpet with as much grit and determination as the strongest regiment of defenders in a battle to protect their hometown.  And since the legs wouldn't move, the rest of the chair had to find somewhere else to go.  First two legs rose from the ground, then a third, as the pastor's arms flailed about him in a scene reminiscent of the bullet-dodging Neo in The Matrix.    He managed with great effort to avoid the bulk of the spill, but, alas, the residue was much too strong to contain.  It continued its relentless drive across the table and over the side, aiming for the preacher's leg and exposed left side.  After an agonizingly long moment or two of teetering on the one remaining chair leg with arms waving and legs kicking, he finally gave in and rolled away from the torrent toward the floor.    Amazingly, his incredible physical dexterity allowed him to avoid landing on the floor in a heap.  Instead he quickly righted himself and casually complemented the Johnny-on-the-spot waiter for his quick response.  Actually, he just happened to be walking by when the catastrophe began, and quick-as-a-flash threw his towel in the direction of the flood, creating a fabric dam and somewhat containing the small portion of fluid still arching toward the table's edge.    Several towels, a few tiny napkins, and numerous rounds of uproarious laughter later, we returned to our quiet, theological discussion of baptism.  I did tell Kelly that if she was mad at me for getting her wet earlier, there were other ways to deal with it.    Luke 3:16 says, "John answered them all, 'I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."   Father, that's the kind of baptism I want to see for Seaside … Holy Spirit fire.  Amen.