Jun 24 2008
Baptism at Marez Chapel
A new Chaplain spoke at church on Sunday. This was the first week that Chaplain (CPT) Rodgers led the service. I was a couple of minutes late for the service and did not hear what unit he is with. I did not recognize his unit patch. Mugs would point out that I could actually talk to him and ask him that information. But as Mike Miller says, “that’s just the way we roll in MAO”.
Chaplain Rodgers spoke from Matthew 10, so I was reminded once again that the very hairs on my head are all numbered. At the end of the service he announced that a soldier had accepted Christ as his Savior recently and wanted to be baptized as a public profession of his faith. What do you do when you don’t have a baptistry and you can’t get to the river? You improvise. Soldiers are well known for finding field expedient methods for solving problems. I’m sure the Chaplain’s Assistant was given the mission of finding somewhere to conduct the baptism. All he needed was a bathtub and a little wood.
On the plus side, the Genuine Babylonian Holy Water had to be warmer than Elena’s springtime baptism in Round Pond by Chaplain Pitt.
A Round Pond baptism sounds as refreshing as a Lake Frederick shower.
You’ve got the right idea, cold Lake Fred shower, only in April. It was a significant emotional event for El, recieving the Holy Spirit headed toward hypothermia. I think she was the only civilian baptized that day. All firstie year we went together to Chaplain Pitt’s midweek bible study, where she was the only civilian. Approaching graduation Chaplain Geehan sent us a note telling us to sign up for premarital counseling, not knowing we had essentially already had seven month’s worth from his officemate.