New Thought Sunday Message--May 23, 2010: How to be baptized like you'll never forget!

Now, this is a baptism...

Some years ago, on a cold and rainy January evening, I walked off a pier into the mighty Columbia River. That’s the big one that separates Oregon, where I live, from Washington State.

Did I consciously choose to take that little plunge? Hardly. Did I even have a choice? Not really. It was dark and I took a wrong turn—literally, a long walk off a short pier, if you please. I was leaving a friend’s boat which was moored out on the river somewhere and I simply wasn’t paying enough attention to where I was going.

That can and does happen to all of us at times, right?

I learned that not paying attention has fatal possibilities.

Mind you, I knew I wasn’t going to drown and I managed to swim back to the dock and, with the help of friends, (who still taunt me mercilessly about my carelessness), I pulled myself out of the river, none the worse for wear. And as soon as I was back safely on the dock, I had one of those “aha!” moments. It became clear to me how fleeting this wonderful existence of ours can be. One moment healthy and wealthy, the next moment cold and dead.

I vowed in that vivid instant to get over my grievances, to forgive anyone and anything (including myself) against which I may be harboring ill will.

We truly don’t have time to live in fear and anger. We don’t have time to continue in hatred—for any reason. There are too many wonderful things yet to do, too many lives to touch with kindness, too many real challenges to deal with.

Our petty grievances take too much time and effort away from the important people and issues that have actual meaning and value.

You think you have plenty of time to get your house in order? Guess again. Life is only a moment, a flash, a streak of almost immeasurable speed through the universe. You cannot afford to waste a singe second on fear, unforgiveness, and anger.

The river is flowing fast.