{"id":2126,"date":"2014-11-10T14:15:32","date_gmt":"2014-11-10T20:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=2126"},"modified":"2014-11-10T14:16:22","modified_gmt":"2014-11-10T20:16:22","slug":"something-old-testament-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2014\/11\/10\/something-old-testament-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Something Old Testament About The Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Baptism1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Baptism3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Something is not right with my father.<\/p>\n

Tests have happened, pictures have been taken, doctors have whispered.<\/p>\n

My sister\u2019s children approached her. \u201cWe\u2019d like to have Poppy baptize us.\u201d Unspoken in this: 1) they sense an end; and 2) they recognize that when it comes to God, nobody they know is more qualified to knock on heaven\u2019s door than their grandfather\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

_____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Such honor, to be there. A quiet Wednesday afternoon, the eternal clock ticking, and if ever there was a For-where-two-or-three-gather-in-My-Name-there-am-I-with-them moment, this was as It as It gets.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s 85 years old. He met God young and committed immediately. It\u2019s an easy thing, to believe in eternity when you\u2019ve yet to grow a whisker; it\u2019s another thing, to be near your natural end, older than your grandparents, older than your parents, and feel the stalking footsteps of death, have your faith tested by the cold hard facts of biology\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

_____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He has prepared handwritten notes. (I have a little box with notes of the same kind, prepared for sermons in the year I was born, when he was still too fresh out of seminary to be worthy of his own church assignment.)<\/p>\n

He speaks to a congregation of three grandchildren. \u201cThe Christian life is an easy life,\u201d he tells them. To him, it all makes sense: all God\u2019s rules are designed for our benefit, to steer us towards good, or to steer us away from bad.<\/p>\n

He tells them the ABC\u2019s of his everyday life, how it begins with a little prayer, thankful for the day, wanting to be a good child, and asking for help with the ambushes of life.<\/p>\n

There is nothing he is more passionate about than the Fruits Of The Spirit. He grew up in a church society that thought that dotting I\u2019s and crossing T\u2019s made you holy, but all it made you was a Pharisee, the very thing Jesus despised.<\/p>\n

\"Baptism2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The evidence of God within was in what fruit you bore. It wasn\u2019t to be sought, or measured. He thought our highest ambition was to be Christ-like, and by staying near, and by asking for help, little-by-little, we\u2019d defeat the carnal and transition to the spiritual, and in thought, motive and action, we\u2019d be loving, joyful, peaceful\u2026<\/p>\n

He speaks these words to children. They may never remember a word, but they\u2019ll always remember his substance. Up the road, they\u2019ll get tested, and fail, and the view from the ditch bottom will finish the lesson. Their grandfather will look Large, and they\u2019ll want to be that way, and know it\u2019s possible, because they saw it, in their days of youth\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

_____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My sister has brought bread and grape juice. Deep into his eighth decade, my father leads grandchildren in a backyard communion. We are a micro church.<\/p>\n

He removes his shoes and steps, like an old \"Baptism4\"<\/a>man, into the backyard pool that we\u2019re borrowing. One by one, his grandchildren step into the water with him, hear his words, feel his hands supporting their backs, dipping them into swim water turned holy by occasion\u2026 announcing their intentions to angels.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

_____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One of the great Old Testament stories is about Jacob and Esau. Such trickery, such urgency, and all to get the blessing of the old patriarch, Isaac. It matters, is what the story says to us\u2026to have your father pray for you, as his time ends, to ask his Father to carry on His protection, and blessing, this is of greater value than a legal will\u2026<\/p>\n

I have seen my father before crowds. Does this seem small, for him near his end, to be reduced to a congregation of so few\u2026 I think not…\u00a0 This is altogether clean, this is a gift of great substance, this is a mattering moment in a life that has maybe one Christmas left before eternity\u2026<\/p>\n

I feel God\u2019s kindness. I sense His perfect subtlety. I don\u2019t mind going, my father is thinking, as long as I know you\u2019re going to join me later\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

_____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This edition of Uncle P\u2019s Bedtime Stories is brought to you by Eighty-one, where we urge you to grab the moments that matter\u2026<\/p>\n

Uncle P\u2019s Bedtime Stories are posted three times a week on Eighty-one\u2019s Facebook page, Sunday, Wednesday and Friday evenings, about pillow time.\u00a0 Uncle P can be reached at 81creativity@gmail.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Something is not right with my father. Tests have happened, pictures have been taken, doctors have whispered. My sister\u2019s children approached her. \u201cWe\u2019d like to have Poppy baptize us.\u201d Unspoken in this: 1) they sense an end; and 2) they recognize that when it comes to God, nobody they know is more qualified to knock [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[59,495,894],"yoast_head":"\nSomething Old Testament About The Moment - BestOfSwla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2014\/11\/10\/something-old-testament-moment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Something Old Testament About The Moment - BestOfSwla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Something is not right with my father. Tests have happened, pictures have been taken, doctors have whispered. 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